Mark James, by day, is a psychological examiner for Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute.
By night (or by weekend), he is a willing weaver of liturgical articles for churches.
The Cleveland resident is among area residents who use their creativity with cloth to assist churches or other parachurch ministries.
Mr. James has made altar linens for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland, St. Francis of Assisi in Ooltewah and St. Paul’s Episcopal in Chattanooga, as well as prayer cloths and woven bandages.
Julia Barkley, meanwhile, makes hats, lap handkerchiefs and washcloths for various area churches. And David and Brenda Black have given out some 600 to 700 prayer rugs and now are trying to assist their fledgling nonprofit ministry with a self-designed T-shirt.
A weaver for 10 years, Mr. James, 54, said his work is largely a hobby, but he admits a desire to provide a service and make a little money in creating altar clothes and stoles for other churches and individuals.
Among the items he has created are children’s altar cloths for St. Paul’s Episcopal, bandages for earthquake relief in Haiti and stoles for the Rev. Joel Huffstetler, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal.
One of the stoles, according to Dr. Huffstetler, is white, and the other is a “festive” multi-color.
“(Mr. James) is a wonderful, wonderful man,” the rector said. “He has such a kind heart. And he does beautiful work.”
Dr. Huffstetler said his parishioner also made his parents a table runner after the minister’s sister died and made his wife a prayer cloth when her parents died within weeks of each other.
Prayer cloths are not a part of the Episcopal tradition, according to Mr. James, but they can be symbolically representative of one’s feelings. They might be any size – his are about a foot square – or made of various cloth, he said.
“It’s kind of a way to channel prayer toward the person,” he said. “Of course, they have no magical powers.”
CHURCH HOPPER
Ms. Barkley is a member of Metropolitan Tabernacle, but you might find her at a Baptist church one day or a Holiness congregation the next.
She uses her millinery, sewing and floral skills to make hats, washcloths, altar cloths, and various silk and live flower arrangements for individuals and churches.
“It’s mostly word of mouth,” said Ms. Barkley, 73, who has used her various skills to support herself for about the past 10 years.
Prior to that, she owned a flower shop, but a serious automobile accident ended that venture.
Today, Ms. Barkley said, all her work is done in her home, and the variety ranges from Men’s Day corsages to fancy hats to cloths to cover the faces of those who faint during prayer at the altar.
She even advertises her wares, she said, as she allows the lace finery of a handkerchief to show from the purse she carries each time she’s at church.
Ms. Barkley studied floral arranging at Chattanooga State Community College, she said, but the sewing and hat creation is mostly self-taught.
God, she said, “has given me the ability to do this.”
HONORING OTHERS
When David Black talks about the Eagle Honor Guard he and his wife have formed, he’s not talking about a ceremonial unit.
They have in mind to honor “the average person” in a church or other organization or “to bring recognition to those who have not received it.”
To that end, the Blacks are in the process of raising money for their planned nonprofit organization with a line of T-shirts they have been developing for a couple of years.
The first of those depicts an eagle above the word “Jerusalem.” Highlighted within the word are the letters USA. The idea, he said, is a reminder that the country is “spiritually to be involved in Israel.”
“The time we’re in now,” Mr. Black said, “people are turning away from Israel (in which Jerusalem is located). They play it down spiritually. We want to honor Judeo-Christian relations and bring that recognition back into the church.”
He said the design of the T-shirt took two years because “I’m not an artist.” He said he felt it needed just the right type of eagle, and it took six or seven drawings by the firm with which he worked to please him.
“They couldn’t (initially) relate to what I wanted,” Mr. Black said. “The Lord was wanting us to have an eagle that overshadowed.”
He said people are astounded when they see “USA” in the middle of “Jerusalem.”
“I’ve never heard anybody who has seen anything like it,” Mr. Black said.
The couple has had 100 of the shirts made and has plans of giving some to “key players,” including a “nationally known evangelist,” who might encourage others.
To earn additional money for their organization, the Blacks said they have 25 to 30 other T-shirt designs that they’ll have made “as soon as we get the funds.”
The couple said they also have recently given away 600 to 700 prayer rugs of various sizes that they were given.
“We thought about selling them,” he said, “but the Lord reminded me to give them away. It was possible that we could, so we did. If we’re a light, we’ve got to manifest it.”