Letter of invitation to participate in Yellow Rose (PAIL) Sunday 2022
Dear Pastor,
We are inviting you to participate in a simple remembrance that will bless a significant group of people in your congregation and community. Since 1988, October has been designated as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month – a time to recognize those who experience the loss of a baby during any stage of pregnancy or early infancy. As many as one in four pregnancies end in loss, and parents who go through this often feel alone in their grief, unrecognized as “parents” and isolated from others, including in the church.
In 2011, two churches in Columbia, South Carolina, reached out to such parents in a simple yet profound way. Encouraged by the Naomi’s Circle ministry, Spring Valley Baptist Church and South Beltline Baptist Church both placed a bouquet of yellow roses on the altar, with a mention in the bulletin that it was in recognition of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, which is October 15. Those in the congregation who had experienced such a loss were invited to take a rose home after the service. Many did, and many shared, some with tears, about their own losses years, or even, decades ago and how much they appreciated the gesture of support and love.
Additional churches participated each year since. This year, we would like to see this gesture spread across the country and the globe as more churches participate in “Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Sunday” (or “Yellow Rose Sunday”) on October 16, 2022, or any other Sunday in October that works for your church. Details, as well as a way to register your church’s participation and share feedback afterwards, can be found at: www.naomiscircle.org/pail-sunday. Questions may also be directed to Naomi’s Circle founders Eric and Kristi Bothur at [email protected].
Thank you for considering this simple way to reach out with the love of Christ this fall!
Sincerely,
Kristi Bothur
Naomi’s Circle
Mother of seven – two on earth and five in heaven
We are inviting you to participate in a simple remembrance that will bless a significant group of people in your congregation and community. Since 1988, October has been designated as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month – a time to recognize those who experience the loss of a baby during any stage of pregnancy or early infancy. As many as one in four pregnancies end in loss, and parents who go through this often feel alone in their grief, unrecognized as “parents” and isolated from others, including in the church.
In 2011, two churches in Columbia, South Carolina, reached out to such parents in a simple yet profound way. Encouraged by the Naomi’s Circle ministry, Spring Valley Baptist Church and South Beltline Baptist Church both placed a bouquet of yellow roses on the altar, with a mention in the bulletin that it was in recognition of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, which is October 15. Those in the congregation who had experienced such a loss were invited to take a rose home after the service. Many did, and many shared, some with tears, about their own losses years, or even, decades ago and how much they appreciated the gesture of support and love.
Additional churches participated each year since. This year, we would like to see this gesture spread across the country and the globe as more churches participate in “Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Sunday” (or “Yellow Rose Sunday”) on October 16, 2022, or any other Sunday in October that works for your church. Details, as well as a way to register your church’s participation and share feedback afterwards, can be found at: www.naomiscircle.org/pail-sunday. Questions may also be directed to Naomi’s Circle founders Eric and Kristi Bothur at [email protected].
Thank you for considering this simple way to reach out with the love of Christ this fall!
Sincerely,
Kristi Bothur
Naomi’s Circle
Mother of seven – two on earth and five in heaven