Prayer Shawl


In 2005, Lynn Holbrook was thinking of ways to honor her parents when she came up with the idea of making a prayer shawl. Lynn did not know how to knit, but she was talented in other crafts and willing to learn. So she contacted her longtime friend, Wilma Basler, who was an excellent teacher of the fine art of knitting and crocheting. Together they decided to form a prayer circle to make shawls to donate to Hospice of Huntington for the sick and suffering in our community. From this friendship and a shared passion for Christian service was born our Prayer Shawl Ministry.

Very quickly the new ministry took off under the dynamic leadership of Lynn and Wilma, with Sandy Salyers as their bookkeeper. Soon other women from Beverly Hills United Methodist, Beverly Hills Presbyterian, and other churches began meeting every Monday afternoon to knit and crochet beautiful shawls. As the ministry became more well-known, even women who did not know how to knit or crochet showed up to participate. Someone is always there to teach, help and provide the needed supplies.

Approximately 200-250 shawls are knitted each year, with 100-150 of these shawls going to Hospice of Huntington. Soon requests were coming in for prayer shawls- for coal miners when there was catastrophe, for our Veterans, and for all our friends who are in need of prayers for comfort and healing.  To date these young-in-heart women have knitted over 2000 shawls and the Prayer Shawl Ministry, funded by generous donations, has provided hours of social time and purpose to their Christian lives.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry group meets every Monday at 1:00pm in Fellowship Hall.