In its 19th year, the Prayer Shawl Ministry, which grew from a project initiated by two graduates of the 1997 Women’s Leadership Institute led by Professor Miriam Therese Winter, continues to grow and inspire people around the world.

WLI participants Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo came up with the idea to combine a love for knitting and crocheting with the “spiritual practice which reaches out to those in need of comfort and solace, as well as in celebration and joy. Many blessings are prayed into every stitch,” according to the Prayer Shawl Ministry website.

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper recently featured an area church, Apostles Lutheran, that continues the practice. In the last 15 years, the ministry has created and distributed more than 600 shawls to people in Chesapeake and throughout the world, the article said.

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