Wrapped in God’s Love

It may seem almost sacrilegious to mention the ‘C’ word this early in the year.
However, it took two years of planning to prepare for our Christmas ‘scarves of
blessing’ project. I first heard of the idea during a seniors’ ministry webinar – I can’t
remember who shared it, but whoever you are, THANK YOU! The concept is simple:
collect a variety of large, fluffy, warm winter scarves, take them into a residential care
home (with permission!), invite each resident to choose one they like, wrap it round
their shoulders and speak a blessing over them.

I began scouring our local charity shops two years in advance, and by early December
2024 I’d collected 45 scarves, which all had to pass the ‘large, fluffy, warm’ test. We
challenged church members to ‘sponsor a scarf’ – a donation of £5 for the average cost
of each scarf and we easily covered our expenses.

Next we contacted local residential homes, all of which we’d visited the previous year
with our knitted angels (see blog Angels of blessing) and arranged a
convenient time to visit with a group of carol singers. With scarves washed and
arranged colour-coordinated in bags, we arrived, sang, and at half time, carol singers
approached each resident in pairs. One offered the scarf and wrapped the chosen one
round them, the other read this simple blessing:

As you wrap this scarf around you, God wraps you in his love today, this Christmas
and every day. The Lord bless you and keep you, smile on you and give you his peace.

What a simple yet powerful reminder that we are all made in God’s image, we are all
loved and the message of ‘Immanuel’, God with us, is for every single one of us. Just as I
was inspired, maybe this will inspire you to bring blessing this Christmas?

Rev Sally Bates, Associate Minister Frinton Free Church, member of Anna
Chaplaincy network and Faith in Later Life Church Champion