by Ann Smith, Former National Episcopal Church Director of Women in Mission and Ministry and Companion of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross
There is a long herstory of church women taking an active role in helping when needed. During the Civil War, church women in both the South and the North made bandages from whatever materials were available. In the movie “Gone with the Wind,” Scarlett O’Hara complained that rolling bandages hurt her fingers.
During World War I, in February 1918, the Omaha Red Cross chapter sent its largest shipment overseas of church women’s rolled bandages and knitting. It included 30,560 bandages, 7,000 sweaters and 5,000 pairs of socks.
During World War II, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was often photographed knitting for the war effort, or at least carrying her voluminous knitting bag. She effectively launched the World War II knitting effort at a Knit for Defense tea held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on September 31, 1941.
The herstory of Episcopal church women helping during war and other times of crises continues today with the sewing of facemasks. Many Chapters of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross heard the need for facemasks in Immokalee, Florida. The Rev. Ema Rosero-Nordalm, Social Justice Representative of Episcopal Church Women National Board, and I, a Companion of the Holy Cross and Companions of the Holy Cross of the Southeast Region, put out the call: Grandmothers, mothers and children of the town of Immokalee, Florida, need your help: 27,000 farmworkers and thousands of others are in danger of contacting the coronavirus and are without protection or treatment. They need facemasks, so please get out your sewing machines and tell others.
I wrote a prayer and the Companions sent it out to all chapters. It was translated into Spanish to accompany the facemasks. Chapters from both the north and the south answered this call to help Immokalee farmworkers. St Monica’s Episcopal Church, Naples, Florida, located just miles away from Immokalee, heard the call and the Church Women armed their sewing machines.
Almighty God, Creator of all life. We praise you and thank you for your love and protection.
Open our ears to hear from medical experts how to keep our families safe from the deadly Coronavirus.
Sooth our fears and make us strong during the crisis.
Help us to be your disciples in carrying for ourselves, our families and the people of Immokalee.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen
Angie Morris, SCI Representative, ECW Diocesan Board
I heard the desperate cry for masks in the medical community in the middle of March. My husband Bill and I started making masks right away to donate. We have personally made over 1,500 masks for essential workers in the community and for friends and family since March 11. I joined a newly formed Stitched Together Long Island group of 2,262 sewers who heard the same cry and together we donated so far over 72,000 masks to needs on Long Island and in the five boroughs. Requests to us were coming in at a rapid pace. Some requests totaled thousands a day. The need was very desperate in March and April. Our selfless, giving group consists of people who sew, people who donate fabric and supplies, people who make the deliveries all across the area. Trucks came to Huntington from Manhattan to pickup masks for the homeless, for hospitals and nursing homes. Now thank God, the requests aren’t over yet,, but they are slowing down. And that is a wonderful sign that we are getting better!
Lynn Fitzgibbon reports from St. Martha’s in Papillion, NE
In our parishes we are helping where needed – making masks, serving meals to those who need them, operating food pantries and working with food distribution centers. We watch worship services either from our own parishes or take the opportunity to watch services from other churches within or outside our diocese. We take part in Zoom gatherings to celebrate Morning Prayer, virtual coffee hour, Centering Prayer, and study time together. Our prayers are for those affected by the virus, directly or indirectly, and for our nation.
