Fleece Hat Project and Devotion

In the past LCMS Servant Events have used time at conferences and at LCMS Youth Gatherings to make fleece hats. These hats can get distributed in a number of ways from homeless shelters, cancer patients and more. Below is the devotion created to be used before creating the hats as well as the basic instructions. To get the PDF of the devotion and printable instructions, click here. 

Joy in Community Devotion

Community (noun):
1.a group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, or neighborhood)
2.a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race, etc.
3.a group of nations

Read Philippians 1:3-11

What does community mean to Paul?

• Where does Paul find his joy in this reading?
• What is it about these specific people that is so meaningful to Paul?
• What does Paul pray for these people?

What does community mean for us?

The people of Philippi are very dear to Paul. He truly loves and cares about them. They are a community of believers. Paul feels as though he is a part of this
community even though he is living far from them.

• What communities are you a part of? How do they work?
• We are building a community here as we serve together. What kinds of characteristics and actions do we want our community to have?
• Paul prays that his community would continue to grow in love and in the knowledge of Christ. Are those prayers what we need too?

How do we use this joy today?

Paul shares his joy in being a part of the community of believers. Let’s challenge ourselves to share the joys we see in each other throughout our serving, studying and living together this week.

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, we thank You for this new day. We are excited to serve your people. Be with us as we begin to build a community here in this place. Help us to seek You first, to be partners in sharing the Gospel and to work together in all we do. We pray that Your love would flow through us to all those we serve. Touch their lives as they become part of our community as well. We give You thanks for Your death and resurrection which give us life in You. Be with us we pray. Amen.

No Sew Fleece Hats

You will need

• fleece
• masking tape (if you want to be really accurate
• good scissors

How to:

1. Cut a piece of fleece that measures roughly 14 inches high with a length that equals the circumference of the recipient’s head plus 2 inches for the fringe and another 1.25 inches for comfort factor. You don’t want this hat to be too snug because then the knots in the brim could be annoying.
2. Place a piece of masking tape along the vertical edges, leaving a space of 3 inches between the tape and the edge.
3. Mark off increments of roughly 2/3 inch on the tape and cut the fringe according to these marks.
4. Bring the two fringed edges together and tie small double knots between the corresponding pieces from each edge.
5. Fold the bottom of the hat up twice to form a brim. For boys you may want to turn the hat inside out at this point.
6. Decide on the height of the hat, and using a piece of fleece or ribbon, gather the top of the hat and tie tightly.
7. Undo any knots above this tie and cut off the fringe.
8. Make vertical cuts in the top portion of the hat to create the look of a pom-pom. Trim if necessary.

Download the PDF of devotion and instructions here.