Place of Worship:

Retiring Minister's Wheel  •  Minister's Memorial Wheel
Fingers of the same Hand Wheel  •  Prairie Restoration Wheel


Congregational Church: Minister's Memorial Wheel, Donnel Mc Connel,
Bellingham, Washington

Mr. Donnel Mc Connel, a long-time and much beloved minister at First Congregational Church in Bellingham, Washington was diagnosed with an untreatable cancer. Members of the congregation commissioned the wheel to celebrate his wonderful contributions to the church community and to honor his life of heartfelt, compassionate service.

The design on the wheel's base shows people joined hand-in-hand dancing in a circle around the wheel. Above them, in the sky, dozens of butterflies rise. As the wheel turns, images of the church's bell swing back and forth in the sky--as if being rung by the hands of the church congregation. The prayer wheel's lid is shaped like a candle flame. The overall shape of the wheel is intended to echo a candle. The Minister's Prayer Wheel now occupies a central position on the alter in the chapel of the church.