Making Crosses

A new, creative, and active way to pray… Ellen Prewitt invites you to discover how this new spiritual practice—making crosses—can deepen a life lived for Christ. As she says, «To make a cross is to pray in a new way, but it's not as simple as old-fashioned petitionary prayer; making crosses is a way for God to pray through you.» The practice of making a cross takes you beyond analytic thinking, and offers a way of prayer where understanding comes from doing. Working with the most complex symbol of Christianity—the cross—the pray-er learns to co-create with God in concrete and tangible ways, and discover the meaning of faith. Ellen Morris Prewitt is an award-winning writer who turned to making crosses after the tragedy of 9/11. Her writings have appeared in journals such as Image, River Teeth, and The Rambler. She lives in Memphis, Tennessee where, in addition to making crosses, she facilitates a writing group of men and women who live on the streets. Cross Making in the Life of the Church "Cross making offers individual exploration of spirituality wrapped in community." Worship: Cross making during a worship service based on the movement of the Holy Spirit Spiritual Work of the Church: – Discernment Committee: To bond the committee and help in the discernment process for candidacy for the priesthood – "Festival of the Cross" featuring all types of hand-made crosses, including found object Creation Crosses Outreach: – Children's crosses displayed and sold, with money sent to congregation's mission work – Neighborhood clean-up project with found objects used to make crosses – Inter-congregation crosses made by two downtown churches – Cross making session at local homeless shelter Themed Explorations: – Holy Week crosses created in group weekend before Holy Week and used in prayer/added to throughout the upcoming week – Pentecost «Spirit Cross» created during Fellowship Hour in summer months with heavy participation by all members of the church – Earth Day crosses in children's Sunday School class – "Coming to the Cross as a Child" during women's retreat – Lenten Crosses created at weekly gatherings of small groups Bonding: – During Sunday School where children and supervising parents make crosses together – Display of crosses created by congregants encourages discussion of faith and spirituality and further introduces congregants to each other – Group cross created during women's retreat, then placed in chapel to commemorate time with God and each other – Silent retreat cross making