UC News quilt exhibit
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Why would the Ohio Conference sponsor a quilting show?

This past summer the Spiritual Renewal Committee of the Ohio Conference, along with five other sponsors, co-hosted "Sacred Threads." The national quilting show was held at Reynoldsburg High School, east of Columbus, for three weeks in July. The exhibition contained 160 quilts created by 89 quilters from all over the U.S. and from Canada to Australia. The show’s popularity has prompted the organizers to begin plans to make it a biennial event.

The "Sacred Threads" planning committee wrote that this quilt show wove together the creative expression of quilting and each "artist’s personal expression of spirituality, grief, healing and inspiration." Workshops were held each weekend on a wide variety of topics, all seeking to help persons connect their creative talents with their spiritual journeys. Susan Towner-Larsen, Ohio Conference Minister for Church and Education, played an important leadership role in creating the event. Susan and her co-author, Barb Davis of First Community Church (UCC), Columbus, have written a book, With Sacred Threads, Quilting and the Spiritual Life, which served as the inspiration for the event.

Quilting is an ancient craft done by women and some men over the ages, often to express their creativity and to give voice to hope, joy and pain in their lives while they created beautiful, warm bed coverings. Today we have come to appreciate the fine art created by persons working with their hands and striving to express deeply what is on their hearts and minds. Quilting, like painting, expresses one’s relationship with God and how one lives out faith in the world.

Sue and I have a number of quilts in our home, some handed down from family members who labored many hours to create them. The quilts remind us of those loved ones who gave of their time and energy to care for the family’s comfort and also to share a lot of who they were as persons of faith. Susan and Barb write in their book, "Quilting is one of the ways that we search for meaning, either consciously or unconsciously. Through this work of hand and heart, we learn that we cannot predict or control how God is/will be at work in our lives, but we can get clues that deepen our understanding about how to move forward in the presence of uncertainty."

I believe that it is important for the Ohio Conference to sponsor opportunities for these Spirit-filled artists to share their hopes, dreams and spirituality, expressed with thread, needle and beautiful pieces of cloth. Five beautiful quilts have been created for the Prettyman Adult Center for Spiritual Renewal at Pilgrim Hills. When persons are on spiritual retreat at the Center, they will feel, see and touch the spirituality of persons who have shared their faith through quilting. Many of our congregations have quilting groups that meet regularly to help finish a quilt. The quiet conversation that takes place often reveals a spiritual dialogue with one another and with God. Join them on their spiritual journey. You may be surprised by how profoundly quilting and the arts expand and express a person’s faith.

Take a look at the quilts you see around you and seek to discover the personality of the artist/creator. Ponder the love of the many hands that helped finish the quilt, often through Christian community and conversation.

Why would the Ohio Conference be a sponsor for a quilt show? It is because it demonstrates the faithful witness of people and their relationship with God.