Praying for one another is essential and beneficial to our life of faith. Just as liturgy is the work of the people, for the people, so are our intercessory prayers. We remember those in need when we gather in the church on Sundays. It is also good to remind ourselves to pray for one another throughout the week – before and after worship, at Communion, in our contemplative spaces, and also at home, while traveling, in the evenings before we sleep, and in all those other in-between times of our lives, as we walk in our faith and in relationship with God and one another.
Trinity is making some revisions to how we practice intercessory prayer on Sunday mornings, as well as how to include and add prayers for those in need, with the goal of creating more space and intention for those prayers in our liturgical and physical spaces, including our parish prayer lists.
Beginning Sunday, July 16th, our prayer lists will be structured in two lists. The first will comprise people with new, acute, or time-sensitive needs (for instance, new diagnoses, surgeries, medical procedures, or other life challenges or crises). Their names will be spoken during the Prayers of the People for four Sundays, after which they will roll off, although upon request, they can be added to the second list, which is those who are in need of continuing prayer. This list will be included in the back of the Sunday bulletin and will be referred to every week during the Prayers of the People.
All the names on our prayer lists will continue to be lifted to God’s healing touch Monday-Friday at 9 am during Morning Prayer. Additionally, the prayer chapel to the right of the pulpit as you face the altar is open for prayer throughout the week. A copy of Sunday’s bulletin with both prayer lists is by the prayer bowl and votive candles. Come by to pray for those in need, light a candle as a sign of your intentions made known to God, and add other petitions by placing a card in the prayer bowl. Or just take some time to sit and enjoy the sound of silence and the beauty of holiness.
And there are more ways that Trinity offers the ministry of prayer. For example, each member of Trinity’s chapter of the Daughters of the King prays daily for the people entrusted to them. If you would like to be included or include someone else in this confidential ministry, contact Muffie Newell, pastoral care coordinator, and she will send that information to the Daughters of the King.
To add anyone to any of the prayer lists or to the Trinity Cares program for additional pastoral care (including cards, meals, and assistance with transportation), also contact Muffie Newell. And to learn more about the Daughters of the King and their ministry, please contact Glenna Quick.
Thank you for your faithful presence in the life of Trinity and for your own prayers, which help transform our community and the world through God’s love and grace.
— Fr. AJ Heine, Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church of Staunton
