Updated on April 13, 2011

A sea of papers with words like “gardening”, “trailer”, “enthusiasm”, “quilting” and “sewing machine” covered the tables as the Maritime Conference Gifts and Giving Committee took stock of the abundant, yet often unrecognized resources in their midst at the 2007 annual Fall Rally . Taking part in an “Asset Mapping” exercise, the group discovered they were rich in creative people, some with a talent for sewing and closets full of scraps of fabric. From this discovery a unique idea to promote the work the Mission and Service Fund was born – the M&S Storytelling Shawl.

A few weeks later, using fabric scraps in the rainbow colours of the M&S logo, a team worked up a simple, yet beautiful pattern for shawls that could be easily reproduced. The finishing touch was the addition of an embroidered crest with the M&S logo. Next, a call went out for volunteers to take part in a secret plan to make enough shawls that each new minister could be given one at the Annual Meeting of Conference. In no time a wonderful array of colourful shawls began arriving at the Conference Office.

Presenting shawls to the new ministers and special guests at the annual meeting completed Phase 1 of this project and marked the launch of Phase 2 where a pattern and a crest were distributed to every pastoral charge. The hope is that by the next annual meeting each pastoral charge will have created their own “Storytelling Shawl” to be worn by any person in the congregation sharing stories of the ministries enabled by the Mission and Service Fund.

Donning an M&S Storytelling Shawl should be a celebration and reminder that the projects, partnerships, and ministries funded by M&S dollars are expressions of our faith in action - and a reminder that we have often unrecognized treasures in our midst!

The shawls at the Maritime Conference Annual Meeting of 2008.