St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Keeping on praying for the sick

The following correspondence took place on the COIN (Christians on the Internet) discussion list, and it’s copied here to get you thinking. What do you think should happen at St Luke’s? Watch this space!

Hi lateral thinkers, I would be grateful for any practical (sensible) ideas about the seemingly interminable lists of the long-term sick people who are mentioned by name in the intercessions. They seem to dominate the public praying in Sunday worship in one of our churches. My creative juices have run a bit low on this one.

How about 'We pray for those mentioned in the weekly bulletin, or those named on prayer cards, or for whom candles have been lit' or some such relevant phrase? The problem is not of language, but how to convey that the church is still interested even though individuals have not been named.

We have the names of the sick on the newsletter, and we split it into two: "Those who are unwell" (the more critical situations) and "Those who need our continuing prayer" (the more long-term). We pray for "Those who are unwell" on Sunday publicly, and the others during the week and in our private prayers. We only put people on any list when someone asks us to - that person is then responsible for keeping us up-to-date with their situation. It spreads the responsibility a bit.

In our large parish we have a “PA” who keeps the sick list, and the Rector adds those who have died. The names are read out slowly in the two sections at both 8am and 10.30am services: by the Rector at 8am or a lay person at the main service. The PA checks with sick folk to see if they want their name to be read out or not (not everybody wants everybody to know they are ill as they may consider the matter "private") and only those who are genuinely really ill are listed. And the PA also knocks them off the list when not ill or recovering. Often a name on the list is the first time that folk know XYZ is ill so the news is important to those concerned. The list is usually fewer than ten.

We currently have a rule that we do not mention individuals by name in the intercessions at main services, partly because of the possibility of offence if people are not included and partly because not everyone wants their illness broadcast. All prayer requests (including those posted on our board) are prayed for by name at the twice weekly prayer meeting which is less public, and anyone who wants can be put on a list specifically for prayer for healing which is circulated to members of the prayer chain.

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. June 2007, Page 4.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (June 2007) Trinity, Sidesmen, Pray for the sick, DCF, Hymn. Other articles on prayer.	Keeping on praying for the sick The following correspondence took place on the COIN (Christians on the Internet) discussion list, and it’s copied here to get you thinking. What do you think should happen at St Luke’s? Watch this space! Hi lateral thinkers, I would be grateful for any practical (sensible) ideas about the seemingly interminable lists of the long-term sick people who are mentioned by name in the intercessions. They seem to dominate the public praying in Sunday worship in one of our churches. My creative juices have run a bit low on this one. How about 'We pray for those mentioned in the weekly bulletin, or those named on prayer cards, or for whom candles have been lit' or some such relevant phrase? The problem is not of language, but how to convey that the church is still interested even though individuals have not been named. We have the names of the sick on the newsletter, and we split it into two: "Those who are unwell" (the more critical situations) and "Those who need our continuing prayer" (the more long-term). We pray for "Those who are unwell" on Sunday publicly, and the others during the week and in our private prayers. We only put people on any list when someone asks us to - that person is then responsible for keeping us up-to-date with their situation. It spreads the responsibility a bit. In our large parish we have a “PA” who keeps the sick list, and the Rector adds those who have died. The names are read out slowly in the two sections at both 8am and 10.30am services: by the Rector at 8am or a lay person at the main service. The PA checks with sick folk to see if they want their name to be read out or not (not everybody wants everybody to know they are ill as they may consider the matter "private") and only those who are genuinely really ill are listed. And the PA also knocks them off the list when not ill or recovering. Often a name on the list is the first time that folk know XYZ is ill so the news is important to those concerned. The list is usually fewer than ten. We currently have a rule that we do not mention individuals by name in the intercessions at main services, partly because of the possibility of offence if people are not included and partly because not everyone wants their illness broadcast. All prayer requests (including those posted on our board) are prayed for by name at the twice weekly prayer meeting which is less public, and anyone who wants can be put on a list specifically for prayer for healing which is circulated to members of the prayer chain.
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