Churches are full of great knitters, and over the years they've busied themselves knitting coats for babies, socks for soldiers, and blankets for the elderly. But St George's Hartlepool like to be different - and just now the whole church is united in a new project: they're knitting the Bible!
Creative knitting has become quite the thing recently, and there are plenty of patterns around for nativity figures to put under the tree each Christmas. From there it will have been a natural step to suggest knitting the Last Supper - and St George's members rallied round to help when they realised that thirteen figures was a bit much for any individual to tackle on their own.
But they worked so quickly, and the result was so convincing, that people were soon asking "Isn't there anything else to knit?" And that was the point when the decision was made: we'll knit the Bible!
St George's minister Val Towler worked with the congregation to decide which were the essential, and knittable, stories. The church regularly welcomes groups of local school children who visit as part of their religious studies curriculum, and the knitting programme was seen as a useful tool in helping them learn more about the Bible in the course of their visits.
Young people in the Junior Church and uniformed groups who are part of the church family quickly decided which part of the project they would work on; and all kinds of talents came out as people not only knitted, but also worked on the backdrops for each of the woollen tableaux. A former arts student who had worshipped at St George's during her training even paid a return visit and drew on her professional experience in stage design.
"It's been a wonderful way to get everyone in the church working together" said Val Towler. "And now we're all looking forward to later in the year, when the church will be open for everyone to see the whole knitted Bible."
In the meantime, the pages are being turned week by week as during the seasons of Passiontide and Easter the next bit of the story is displayed as a focus for that day's worship. As the final stitches are put in place on the Palm Sunday donkey, the last touches are put to that original Last Supper scene for Maundy Thursday, and two children are already working on the paper-maiché tomb ready for Easter morning.
And St George's members will not be unaware of the fact that from Advent 2008 our congregations who are involved in Vision4Life will be beginning a year specially focussed on the Bible. The preparatory booklet promises "a menu of practical suggestions and materials from the autumn onwards" on the Vision4Life website.
But it looks as if St George's have done without the menu, and have already chosen - starter, main course, and even pudding too.