Community of Calling

Weaving Project

During these days when we are unable to gather together in the church building, our artist-in-residence continues to work with the loom from home, often joining in the online Evening Prayer services to weave as an expression of prayer. This will be brought it its completion with a special online event scheduled for November 21, 2020.

We would encourage you to read a comic book created by Samantha Klassen, our artist-in-residence, as an expression of the connections between this project and our explorations of vocation and calling.

Why weaving?

In 2019 saint ben’s held a Vocation Stories Lenten evening series where we invited members of the community to share their experiences of call and vocation. Lois Ward, one of the participants, described her journey using the metaphor of weaving. For Lois, vocation was not so much a matter of having heard a clear “call” and pursuing it throughout her life. Instead, it was in looking back at the threads of her work and life experiences that she could see how they had been woven together to become what she now recognizes as her vocation.

Inspired by this metaphor, the Community of Calling team drafted a proposal for a year-long collaborative weaving project that would be part of engaging the saint ben’s congregation in thinking about call and vocation. Samantha Klassen was chosen as Artist in Residence | Weaver’s Apprentice to facilitate the project, in collaboration with Carolyn Mount who is a weaver in Fort Frances, Ontario, and a member of the SBT community. The project got underway at the beginning of Advent, December 2019, and while we had to reimagine the project in mid-March due to the pandemic, Samantha has continued the work on our behalf

How can did people participate?

Prior to the onset of COVID-19, all members of our community were encouraged to set their hands to our Loom

The wooden table loom was located at the back of the church each week is there for the community to use. Through Advent, Christmas, Epiphanytide, and into Lent our congregational members were invited to try their hand at weaving in a seasonally coloured thread or three. It was not nearly as scary as it looked, and there was no need to worry about breaking it - it’s a sturdy little piece of equipment (an Ashford Knitter’s Loom, for anyone interested). We’ve made some basic modifications (adding two heddle rods) so that we can weave patterns.

Mini Looms

In addition to the table loom, cardboard mini looms were set up for people to use. These were perfect for weaving during the service, put people were also encouraged to to take one home during the week. These were a great way to experiment with different colours, textures, patterns and even different materials.

Weaving Workshops

Simple workshops were offered by Samantha on several Sunday evenings prior to the beginning of the liturgy. All were most welcome to participate, with absolutely no experience necessary.

Common questions:

• What are we making?

  The table loom is set up to make an altar cloth for the communion table. We won’t really know until it’s done if it will suit this purpose, but that’s the trajectory.

  The mini looms are more about process than product, but at the end of the year we will gather the results and stitch them together into a textile art piece.

• What’s behind the choice of colours on the table loom?

  As we move through the liturgical year we are using the colour of yarn for the season we’re in: blue for Advent, gold for Christmastide, purple for Lent, red for Holy Week, white for Eastertide and green for Ordinary Time.

• What if I mess it up?

  This project is all about experimentation, which means it’s not possible to wreck it. All the variations in the weaving are part of what make it a beautiful reflection of our community.

• What does weaving have to do with vocation?

  As a community of calling, we are working with weaving as a metaphor for vocation, and then fleshing out the metaphor by actually engaging in the practice of weaving. Here are some pieces that can help put some words to the connection between weaving and vocation.

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