Trinity Lutheran Church in Estevan has created a prayer wall during Lent in an effort to bring people together.
Rev. Lori James said the church accesses Sanctified Art’s design, and Trinity Lutheran has a licence to use their themes.
“We just thought this Lenten prayer wall would be a great idea for not just our congregation but the community, at a time when we’re all socially distanced from one another. It’s a place where everyone can come to place their prayers, and it’s a visible sign that we’re all doing that. It’s a visible sign that we’re all connected in that way,” said James.
Prayer is an important aspect of all kinds of faith traditions, not just Christianity.
“It’s one thing that connects us in many ways to many people,” said James.
The prayer wall is located at the front entrance of the church, making it easy to access. It features a large ampersand, which fits the theme of Again & Again: a Lenten Refrain.
James asked Cheryl Andrist if she would take on development of the wall, using the instructions that came from Sanctified Art. Andrist did the work on the design and the building of the wall, and a couple members of the congregation, Ernie Skjerpen and Wes Hanson, stabilized it to keep it safe from the weather.
With the strong winds that blew through Estevan in mid-January when they were looking at the prayer wall, they knew they needed to do something to prevent it from flying away.
The project has held up well against the elements so far, including the 16 centimetres of wet snow that Estevan received on Feb. 23.
“They really worked hard to do something that would survive a Saskatchewan winter, because, of course, sanctified art is not in our climate,” said James.
James believes the prayer wall looks great, and now they’re waiting for people to submit or attach their prayers. The wall will remain up until Easter Sunday on April 4.
“We just handed out the materials. So what we did is we have these plastic strips that people can write their prayers on, and then we weave them into the … wall,” said James. “It was actually snow fencing that Cheryl used and painted it up, so there are these little holes that they can leave these prayers in.”
The strips are located in the church office if somebody in the community wants one. They also have markers in the office that are specifically designed for the strips.
“We have a big hope that people will do that and will be able to see their prayers. People don’t have to use those special markers, they can use anything they have at home. A Sharpie will be fine.”
People can come and attach their prayers to the wall at any time.
James said she hopes that people will take advantage of the prayer wall. It serves as a reminder that there is still connectedness between people. When people are staying at home during a pandemic, it’s easy to forget that people are praying for each other.
If this is well-received, and if it fills some kind of need in the community, then the church would consider continuing this after Easter is finished, or thinking of other ways to bring people together during the time of social distancing.
“We’ve been trying to do that in a variety of ways over the last few months. We’ve encouraged people to sign Silent Night on the doorsteps on Christmas Eve, and we tried to do a virtual pancake supper that would normally happen before Lent,” she said.
