During the summer of 2019, a parishioner, Riley Kane, approached St. Patrick’s Church looking to work with parish leadership on a project to attain an Eagle Scout award with his local Boy Scout troop. After discussion with leadership, Bryan Collins met with Riley and his dad, Ryan. At this meeting ideas from the parish leadership were presented to Riley. One idea was a prayer wall similar to a Eagle Project from a neighboring parish. Riley liked the idea and a proposal was submitted back to parish leadership. After discussion among parish leaders, a Prayer Wall dedicated to healing was approved to be installed.
A task force was set up from members of the Parish Council to help Riley complete the project. The role of the task force was to help with the planning and details regarding the wall. Several task force meetings were held to make recommendations and support the completion of this project. One main contribution of the task force was the recommendation of words that would be engraved in the wall. The initial list was over 70 words that needed to be narrowed down to 7. The task force also had input on the location, the scripture used for the board and other details regarding the wall. Thank you to the task force members for their work in making this project possible.
After the recommendations from the task force were approved by the Corporate Board for the parish, work by Riley had begun. He used many resources including his dad Ryan, members of his Boy Scout troop and a local engraver to help compete the project. Bryan Collins met with Riley on a regular basis to monitor the progress of the wall and to help answer any questions that arose along the way.
Finally, in June of 2020 the wall was completed and ready to be installed at St. Patrick’s. As you can see in the picture the words: Wisdom, Peace, Hope, Love, Comfort, Mercy and Forgiveness all have been engraved in the wall. These words are intended to help those who use the wall to assist in their prayers to have a sense of healing in their life.
Parishioners are able to come write their prayers on a slip of paper, fold it and place it in the spaces of the walls. The parish will hold up the prayers of intention and thanksgiving. The Worship Commission will oversee the wall and its upkeep moving forward.
Thank you to Riley for his hard work and dedication to this project. Thank you to Ryan Kane for helping Riley. Also, thank you to the members of the Corporate Board, Fr. Brian, Doug Fangmeier and Judy LeMire for their support.
All who visit are encouraged to use this new part of the parish to bring you into a more intentional prayer life and experience healing.
