Savannah Presbytery
Georgia
Eileen Buckhouse knits a prayer shawl during a meeting of Heartstrings. Photo by Barbara Riddle.
An injured soldier wraps himself in a blanket knitted by someone he doesn’t know, but it comforts him. Parents view their stillborn baby, beautifully dressed in the gift of a hand-knitted layette, and feel a small sense of peace. A woman undergoing chemotherapy pulls the knit cap she has been given over her hairless head and remembers her faith that everything will be all right. These somber scenes are filled with hope from a group called Heartstrings at Henry Memorial Presbyterian Church in Dublin, Georgia.
The group was started by two women at Henry Memorial who were going through their own personal struggles. Barbara Riddle was looking for something to occupy her time after major surgery. After hearing about a hospital needing items for premature and stillborn babies, she began knitting for them. Around the same time, Eileen and Norm Buckhouse lost one of their sons in a tragic accident, only to soon learn that two other sons would be deployed to Iraq.
A friend suggested that Eileen knit prayer shawls to keep her mind occupied. Together Barbara and Eileen began to teach knitting classes, and a ministry was born.
Today Heartstrings continues its ministry not only in its community, but throughout the world. Knitters make hats, blankets, and booties for an African hospital, cast socks and blankets for wounded soldiers being treated in Germany, dishcloths for seniors living in Swainsboro Presbyterian Apartments, and sweaters for children in the U.S. who need them. What began as a source of comfort in a time of pain has become a ministry serving emotionally needy children of God.
There are 41 churches, 1 new church development, and 6,176 members in Savannah Presbytery.
Presbytery Staff
The Rev. Dr. Greg Garis, interim executive presbyter
Elder Russell Gladding, stated clerk
Elder Roy Scarborough, treasurer
The Rev. Lou Ellen Burdick, staff associate for Christian education
Lynn Garis, staff associate for laity
Tavia Harrison, office administrator
Lisa Stopchuck, coordinator for the
M. K. Pentecost Ecology Fund Committee
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
The Rev. William Somplatsky-Jarman, GAMC
Pat Spaulding, FDN
Gracious God, you knit us before our birth. May what we do in word and deed provide others with the hope and expectation that you truly are a gracious God abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. We pray in the name of the Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Ps. 123, 146 Ps. 30, 86
Neh 9:26–38 or Neh. 4:1–23
Rev. 18:9–20; Matt. 15:21–28
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