Friends,
I pray you are safe and healthy. I pray for our nation. I pray we may move forward with a peaceful transition in Washington. I pray for the people of St. Paul’s as we await coming together again as a worshiping community in 2021. I pray for all people as we await rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. I pray we can get back to the business of building God’s Kingdom, focused on matters of peace and justice. Really everything I listed is about building God’s Kingdom. There are so many people and things to pray for. The pandemic has not stopped our prayers, but added to them.
There is a small group of folk in the congregation who belong to the Prayer Chain. Back in the day, we called it the Telephone Prayer Chain. Another name was Phone Tree. We used the chain to send prayers via telephone for and by the people in the roster. One person would call another, who called another. While slow, it was a good way to grow a prayer. It kept us in community and kept us close to God.
Years ago we switched our prayers to email. Instead of a chain, or tree, one email blast went out to everyone simultaneously. This has continued through the years including 2020. We sent prayers through the pandemic. The prayers are still generated by people in the roster. But it occurs to me, we could be much stronger in our solidarity. We could be more frequent in our communications. We can grow our prayers by recruiting new members to the Prayer Chain.
Join the Prayer Chain. Be part of the community.
Here is how it works. There is a link on the website. Follow it and type your prayer. This goes out as an email to everyone who is rostered in the Prayer Chain. The catch is you must sign up. And you must be willing to receive the emails. The emails are distributed to the Prayer Chain roster by rostered members. The office gets a copy and we add the prayer to Sunday Morning worship.
If you don’t want the emails, then don’t sign up, or opt out anytime. It’s very simple. We can help with technical questions. The office can send prayers on your behalf when you can’t get to your email.
Prayer matters. Talking to God is essential in the Christian life. Let us help you grow your prayers within the parish community. You can help us grow ours. Join the Prayer Chain. Be part of the community.
Peace, Paul+