1,000 Cranes

The idea started with Michelle Mundth at Village Supper last week. Why don’t we have the kids make origami cranes in Sunday School as a response to the crisis in Japan? The next day Ellen and Tricia took the idea a few steps further, deciding to hang the cranes in church from the beautiful Asian-looking branches that are our Lenten arrangement. And, they wondered, could some of the kids make cranes at home before Sunday so that we could have enough to distribute to everyone in the congregation as a symbol of our prayers for Japan?




The answer to that question was yes. Molly Herman Gallow, Michelle Mundth, and Joseph Henry Monti went to work and by Sunday morning the three of them had made almost 70 cranes. They then taught the rest of the Sunday School kids how to make the beautiful symbols of healing and peace.



The cranes were a wonderful addition to our already planned service of prayer for Japan yesterday. It was one of those Sundays when the music, the art on the bulletin cover, the special prayers, the sermon, and the cranes all came together as true worship and prayer.



The response to the cranes was so positive that we now have another idea. Wouldn’t it be great if the people of St. Dunstan’s could make 1,000 origami cranes during Lent? Then we could bless them on Easter morning and send them to a church in Sendai.




To pull this off our Sunday School kids will need help from willing adults. We will set up a “crane making station” in the parish hall with paper, instructions, and a prayer for Japan. We’ll also have a “crane nest” in which to put the completed birds. We’ll make cranes on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings – and at home. Please help!