First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck

Pastor Leanne’s THROWBACK Message from June 2019

The challenge came to me one Monday afternoon as I sat chatting with the members of our Prayer Shawl Ministry. “You should preach a sermon about what you’ve learned from quilting,” one of our members said.

“I should!” I answered. And I have been thinking about it ever since…

Quilting, like preaching, is in my DNA—both passed on to me by a mother who was better at both than I will ever be. A natural philosopher and theologian, she could exegete a New Testament text and stitch a quilt with equal skill, often seeing scriptural meaning in the small things of life, creating parables out of common materials. So….this is what I learned; and wouldn’t you know, these learnings apply to ministry as well as to quilting:

1. Be creative with what you have. Don’t always demand the perfect or the best—appreciate the scraps and make them work for you. Not everything or everyone is strikingly beautiful on their own, but as part of a whole, everything and everyone can shine if one is willing to adapt to them as they are instead of as one wishes they could be.

2. Only God is perfect. The Amish actually have a practice of making a deliberate mistake in each quilt—a way of recognizing the imperfection of human efforts. I, however, have no need to make deliberate mistakes—I am pretty capable of messing up without effort. But here is what I have learned: if one makes a mistake—it’s a mistake, not a sin. The important thing is to be willing to do the work to fix it, and if fixing it is not possible, weave it into the whole so that it fades into the pattern without damaging one’s entire effort.

3. Be faithful and persistent in the long run. The longest time it ever took me to complete a quilt was 9 years. I pieced it together in a seminary dorm room, and laid it out on the hallway floor after my fellow students had gone to sleep. There were times I laid it aside for study projects and test periods, but I always returned to it and knew that I would actually complete it. I cannot express how important it is to me, to commit to things that have to be accomplished incrementally, things that take process, things that demand patience. Most “instant” transformations have been years in the making and the secret to doing God’s will is to give things the years they require.

4. Everything holds together with prayer. The Native Americans have a practice of praying as they do the tiny stitches of quilting and beadwork. A tribal elder I once knew had a hat upon which his mother had stitched an amazing eagle in colorful beadwork, and he wore that hat whenever he faced difficult days, because he was carrying his mother’s prayers with him. The practice inspired me; when I make a quilt, I always pray for everyone who will find warmth beneath it and I enjoy thinking of them being wrapped in my prayers. I, too, believe our prayers are carried forward when everything we do is stitched together with them. In fact, ministry isn’t really ministry unless it is constructed and held together by prayer.

So, there you have it, Sigrid! I am sure I could go on… but this certainly brings out the highlights. Funny how the simplest things have spiritual lessons hiding right under the surface - no wonder Jesus spoke in parable… with eyes to see and ears to hear, God’s revelation is available to every open heart!

Leanne

2026 SCHOLARSHIPS

The Scholarship Committee of First Presbyterian Church is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of scholarships for our church community.

To be eligible for consideration to receive a scholarship,

a student must be an active member of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck

or must have been an active participant in the

life of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck for at least three years.

The awards are given for students at any level of study beyond high school.

Four years is the maximum for receiving scholarships: these need not be consecutive years. Graduate students may apply for scholarships,

providing they are within the four year maximum.

The deadline to apply is Friday, May 15, 2026

ARE YOU WILLING TO HELP?

We encourage you to continue to love your neighbor well at this time. Hebrews 13:16 challenges us to “dowhat is good and to share, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”Thank you for being the Church.

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