Prayer Quilt Ministry

You don’t have to sew to become part of the Prayer Quilt Ministry! Carla Schwartzkopf and Louana George invite all interested Christ Church members to come to the first meeting of this new ministry on Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 11:30 (after church service) in the Fellowship Hall.

Prayers and Squares, the Prayer Quilt Ministry, began near San Diego, California in 1992. There are three guiding principles for this ministry:

• The recipient agrees to receive the prayers and the quilt (no surprise presents).
• The purpose is the prayer, not the quilt.
• There is no charge for the quilt – it is a gift of love.
  

Christ Church has applied to become a chapter of this ministry. Churches of many denominations are part of Prayers and Squares. Hundreds of quilts have been made and “prayed”; each a gift of love.

When the idea that we should start a prayer quilt ministry was introduced to the Epiphany UMW circle a few months ago, the entire group responded enthusiastically and voted YES to start this ministry at Christ Church. The same response came from Rev. Waters who immediately sponsored a prayer quilt for Jim Meier, one of our members in need of our prayers and this tangible reminder that the congregation is praying for him.

What is a PRAYER Quilt? A prayer Quilt is a personal quilt, tied with heavy thread. These threads are tied with a square knot by members of the congregation during a worship service. As each knot is tied, a silent prayer is offered for the person receiving the quilt. There is no cost for the quilt-it is a gift of love and prayer. It is a statement of our faith in God and our belief in God’s power to comfort, strengthen, and heal.

Who Makes the Quilts? Anyone who wants to! You do not need to know how to quilt. The purpose is to provide prayers through the tying of the knots. A quilt, no matter how simple, is a gift from the heart.

Who are the Quilt Recipients? Prayer Quilts are for people in special need of prayer, primarily due to serious illness or injury, and challenging life circumstances.

Is this Ministry for You? You don’t need to be a quilter or even know how to sew! There are many tasks to do. If you’d like to be a part of this rewarding ministry, we’d love to have you. Then you can become a witness to the awesomeness of prayer.
Join us!

UMW Monthly Minute for Social Action

Immigration has certainly been in the news over the past month. As of this writing (6/13/07), Congress has failed to pass a immigration bill and the prospects for doing so soon do not seem likely.

Last month I introduced you to the website of Public Agenda. Public Agenda suggests there are three different points of view held by both experts and the public regarding the immigration issue. These perspectives are:

Perspective #1: Honoring our commitment to newcomers
Perspective #2: Cutting back to preserve our security and culture
Perspective #3: Cutting back in response to economic realities

Any future immigration reform package will almost certainly be based on ideas from all three.

Last month's Monthly Minute included an expanded argument for Perspective #1. The arguments for #2 and #3 are...

Cutting back to preserve our security and culture:
We need to control immigration to secure our borders and protect our unity. Sept. 11 showed how our immigration policies have failed to keep criminals and terrorists out of the country. Millions of people have evaded our immigration laws and the government has no idea whether any of them pose a threat to us. In addition, the recent wave of immigration has brought increasing pressure to accommodate immigrants by accepting bilingualism. We should honor diversity, but not at the cost of breaking the bonds of cohesion — common ideals, a common language, and common political institutions — that hold the nation together.

Cutting back in response to economic realities:
The first concern should be the economic cost imposed by the huge influx of immigrants and their effects on wages and jobs. The fact is that we need to educate and employ the people already here before we can worry about paying for the education, welfare, and health care of hundreds of thousands of newcomers each year. Plus, the burden isn’t spread evenly – most immigrants settle in big cities and Sun Belt states. We should restrict the number of newcomers, and look more closely at how their arrival affects us. The immigrants we do accept should either have jobs waiting here or have the skills to support themselves. The nation’s first obligation is to protect the welfare and well being of those who are already American citizens.

Article submitted by Julie Zerbe
(Source)