Digging In on a Place for Prayer

Congregation members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Chehalis began work Saturday morning to turn a yard near the church’s Carr Community Center into a community prayer garden.

“We wanted it to be something that unites our community,” said Pastor Ed Wegele.

The fenced yard area currently has established maple and fig trees, and before work started Saturday morning, was covered in dead grass. Wegele and volunteers worked to remove the grass at a prayer garden work party.

“It’s our first day of actually breaking ground,” Wegele said.

Volunteer and church member Carolin Auvil is one of the people designing the garden, Wegele said. 

“She’s one of the imaginations behind it,” he said. 

Auvil said the garden’s is intended to be easy to maintain, and accessible for all community members.

“We’re not planning on putting anything sharp or poisonous in here,” she said. “This is going to be easy to weed and maintain.” 

In addition to the fig and maple trees, Auvil plans to add a cross and a climbing rose in one corner of the garden, and plenty of green plants.

“We wanted some biblical associations, scriptural references,” she said. 

They’re also looking at adding pavers and a picnic area. 

When finished, the prayer garden will be open to the community, and geared toward “providing a place for people to have a little peace,” Wegele said. 

Wegele said he hopes children from the Westminster Preschool will also be able to spend time in the garden learning about plants.

“We definitely want this to be a community thing … for people that are downtown to have another option to go during the day,” he said. 

The garden will likely be a long-term project, Auvil said. The church plans to have more work parties in the future.