On Beads of Prayer is an international ministry created at St. Alban’s Parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in the summer of 2005. As the Rev. Douglas Greenaway was about to lead the youth pilgrimage to Greece, it was decided that Anglican prayer beads would be good to take along. The participants chose and strung prayer beads to take on the trip, parishioners quickly volunteered to help, and soon others were also interested in exploring this approach to prayer. The ministry was off and running!

An Advisory Committee, chaired by our former Rector, The Right Reverend A. Theodore Eastman, was also formed. In addition to guiding the development of our ministry, it determines how the proceeds are used for outreach.

Other early activities have included:

• A display at the Parish Fair and an Advent mini-fair.

• A three-part Lenten series led by The Rev. Margaret Guenther of St. Columba’s Church, Canon Eugene Sutton of the Cathedral, and Rev. Greenaway. The third session created the prayer beads for seriously wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Military Hospital. These were presented in a very moving ceremony. Both chaplains expressed thanks with tears in their eyes.

• A presentation to a group of American University students.

• An exciting camp night at Camp Letts, Maryland where we gave a workshop on prayer beads to eighty middle-schoolers and their counselors from the Diocese of Washington, and then helped all of them to make their own prayer beads.

• A booth at the Episcopal General Convention in Columbus, Ohio.