Eileen Padmore learned to knit at her grandmother’s knee but practised her ongoing passion behind closed doors. She explains, “I grew up in a post-war culture that seemed to regard such activity as outdated and only for the lonely and unfulfilled.” After retiring from a career in care and academia, Eileen came upon the powerful pastoral tool of the prayer shawl ministry, which has origins in the USA.
"I had no idea that God delights in all creativity and can use it in his service," reflects Eileen, whose own journey began with a divine prompt that led her to the Bible story of Dorcas who appears in Acts 9.
Dorcas made things for people. Eileen wondered what this would look like in a 21st-century context. Subsequently, she found ‘The Prayer Shawl Companion’ by Janet Bristow and Victoria Cole-Galo, and the enlightenment was immediate.
In various shapes, sizes and designs, shawls can comfort people during acute or chronic illness, hospitalisation and bereavement, but they are also great for celebrating birth, marriage and anniversaries. Most people can relate to prayer; this was when Eileen’s new ministry started. She began small, making a shawl for a friend Jean; “riddled with rheumatoid arthritis since childhood and in constant pain. I prayed as the shawl for Jean took shape from scraps of yarn and a design in my head” explains Eileen. She continues: “When it was finished, and I gave the shawl to Jean, she immediately understood all the Christian symbolism. She was overwhelmed by the warmth and love. Her comment through her tears was ‘I feel I’m being hugged by God.’ A few months later, she died, but not before she had explained all the symbolism on her shawl to her non-Christian family.”
Eileen, who was living in Leeds at the time, went on to make many more shawls for friends, family, and local contacts. Others asked to join her and Loose Threads was born. The new group made neonatal squares, twiddle muffs for people with dementia, trauma teddies for children in hospitals, and other adverse circumstances like war. “Throughout the group prayed over the work of their hands before offering it out there.”
Eileen continues: “It was prayer shapes over which our most effective ministry developed. These small items were packaged in clear envelopes with Bible verses and prayers. The local hospice chaplain put them in the chapel where staff, patients and relatives were invited to help themselves. The take-up was overwhelming. Texts and prayers appeared, fixed to bed frames and lockers, and led to interesting conversations about faith – some life-changing.”
The Prayer Shawl Ministry is a beautiful reminder that traditional crafts and creative gifts are vital in modern ministry. It continues the rich heritage of artistic expression in service of faith that has been part of church life for centuries.
Recently relocated to Ludlow and based at St Laurence’s, Eileen continues making shawls and prayer shapes as a member of the cross-church pastoral care team.
If you're interested in learning more about the Prayer Shawl Ministry or would like to join Eileen and contribute your creative talents to similar initiatives in the Diocese of Hereford, please do get in touch. She concludes: “I’d love to meet others with similar passions and ministry.”