A powerful quilt exhibition memorializing the words of George Floyd will be traveling throughout the Southern New England Conference this spring, including a stop at Annual Meeting.

The Sacred Ally Quilt Ministry was formed by nine New Hampshire United Church of Christ congregations, who came together in response to the senseless killing of George Floyd. The exhibition prayerfully, stitch by stitch, invites viewers to be more deeply present with his final words. 

“George Floyd’s pain won’t go away. We respect it, walk gingerly around it as one would around a grave. We honor his pain with this stitching, these prayers in thread,” said the Rev. Mark Koyama, pastor of the United Church of Jaffrey, NH.  “These quilts are a distillation of four hundred years of oppression. They express the devastating pain of America’s racial wounds.”  

The quilts will begin their Southern New England tour in East Providence on May 20 at the Newman Congregational Church, and then travel to Winchester Center Congregational Church in Connecticut before coming to Edwards House Meeting & Retreat Center in Framingham, MA. From there, they will be displayed to registered participants at the Evangelical Lutheran Church New England Synod Assembly and then the SNEUCC Annual Meeting, both being held at the DCU Center in Worcester. Finally, they will be displayed at the Congregational Library in Boston. 

"It is truly an honor to be able to share this powerful work across Southern New England. The impact of the rich engagement made possible by The Sacred Ally Quilt Ministry is already palpable," said Kate Ostertag, the Executive for Camps & Retreats at Edwards House and Irons Homestead, who is coordinating the tour.

The full schedule can be seen here - details will continue to be added as they are finalized.

More about the quilts:

• Sacred Ally Quilts visibly underscore anti-racism work in New Hampshire - ucc.org, Sept. 30, 2020
   
• Sacred Ally Quilts showcase anti-racist movement across Ohio - ucc.org, March 14, 2023
   
• VIDEO: George Floyd Sacred Ally Quilts Ministry (Heartland Conference Tour Highlights) - March 13, 2023​