The Presbytery of Missouri River Valley
Iowa, Nebraska
 Members of the New Horizon’s Prayer Shawl Ministry hold the shawls they created to “hug” those in need.
The women of New Horizon Presbyterian Church of Council Bluffs, Iowa, have begun a Prayer Shawl Ministry whose purpose is to create a “hug” of prayer and concern to wrap around those in need. Each garment is universal in its fit, warm in its result, and expressive of love in its bestowal.
Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, graduates of the Women’s Leadership Institute at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, started this palliative ministry that combines the joy of knitting and crocheting and the power of prayer.
Each shawl is begun with prayers for the recipient, and the shawl maker continues to pray during its creation. Once the shawl is completed, it is dedicated in a group prayer before being given to someone in special need. The ministry has grown to include twenty-six persons who have contributed 205 shawls.
Recipients of a prayer shawl include persons who are grieving, confronted with health issues, and suffering the loss of employment.
On two occasions those who were chosen were on death row at the state penitentiary. The pastor had learned that the prison hospice chapter wanted to give a shawl to an inmate entering hospice care. The prayer shawl team went to work. The prayer shawl would be the prisoner’s last real possession and would show his survivors that someone cared. For information about this ministry contact Mary Alice Fehr.
The Presbytery of Missouri River Valley’s 54 churches have 10,558 members.
Presbytery Staff
Rev. ChazRuark, interim executive presbyter
Dr. Russell W. Palmer, stated clerk
Joan Royer, administrative assistant
Elder Geri Clanton, mission and mission interpretation committee chair
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Rev. Barry Ensign-George, GAMC
Elder Elizabeth Ensign-George, GAMC
O Great Physician, we intercede for all those who are penetrated by cold that chills their whole being, by loneliness that stifles hope, and by despair that haunts every waking moment. Grant them a condition that warms body and spirit, the reality of your presence that transforms brokenness, and a newness surpassing any previously known. Amen.
Ps. 43, 149 Ps. 31, 143
Jer. 23:9–15
Rom. 9:1–18; John 6:60–71
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