Beyond the Pulpit 9.13.26
A Renewed Invitation to Prayer
Prayer has always been at the heart of who we are as the church. It is one of the ways we love one another, carry one another’s burdens, seek God’s guidance, and open our hearts to the needs of our community and the world around us. As Wesleyans, we believe that God’s grace is already at work in our lives, and prayer is one of the ways we become more attentive to that grace and more available to God’s work.
Recently, our lay leaders have been working to renew and reimagine the Prayer Ministry at CUMC, creating more opportunities for people of all ages to share prayer requests and, just as importantly, to participate in the ministry of praying for others. We want prayer to be something we do not simply talk about on Sunday morning, but something that connects us throughout the week as a congregation and as a community.
Beginning this Sunday, you will see something new in the sanctuary: a Prayer Board. The board consists of horizontal strings where you may place written prayer cards each Sunday during the last hymn or anytime before you leave worship. Updated prayer cards are available in the pew racks. Simply complete the card with your prayer request and indicate whether your request is confidential or may be shared with the CUMC Prayer Team, during the Prayers of the People in worship, and/or in publications like the weekly bulletin and Enews. At the conclusion of each Sunday, I will collect the cards. Confidential requests will be shared with a smaller, confidential prayer team. Prayer requests that may be shared will be emailed early each week to those who are part of the CUMC Prayer Team.
The CUMC Prayer Team is open to anyone who would like to commit to praying for the needs of our congregation and community. Prayer participants will receive one weekly email containing the prayer requests submitted that week. All prayer requests will be removed after 1 month, and can be added again if prayer is still needed. In addition to requests from our congregation, we will also receive prayer requests from our neighbors at Grace Grocery, and we will continue to receive prayer requests submitted online through our church website. From time to time, there may also be a follow-up email when a new or ongoing prayer need arises.
If you would like to become part of the CUMC Prayer Team and receive the weekly prayer email, please contact our Administrative Assistant, Alexa Puffenberger, and she will add you to the list. But this renewed Prayer Ministry is not only about receiving an email with a list to pray for during the week. We also want to create opportunities for us to pray together. Beginning in October, we will gather in the sanctuary for a time of corporate prayer at 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, immediately before our monthly Church Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. This time of prayer is open to everyone, not just Church Council leaders and members, but anyone who would like to come and pray for CUMC, our community, and the needs that are on our hearts.
My hope is that this renewed Prayer Ministry will help us become an even more prayerful congregation: a church where children, youth, adults, longtime members, newer friends, and everyone in between know that they have a place in the ministry of prayer. You do not need to have the “right” words or a particular experience with prayer. You simply need a willing heart.
Sometimes prayer means asking God for healing. Sometimes it means giving thanks. Sometimes it means sitting with grief or uncertainty. Sometimes it means praying for someone we know, and sometimes it means praying for a neighbor whose name we may never know. And sometimes prayer is simply listening for what God might be saying to us. As we continue to Love, Grow, and Go, may prayer be woven more deeply into the fabric of our life together. I invite you to consider both sides of this ministry: What prayer might you need to share? And for whom might God be inviting you to pray? May our renewed Prayer Ministry become one more way that we discover that we are never carrying life’s joys and burdens alone. We are a community of faith, held together by God’s grace and by the prayers we offer for one another. May we be a people who pray, and a people who know that our prayers matter.
Beginning this Sunday, you will see something new in the sanctuary: a Prayer Board. The board consists of horizontal strings where you may place written prayer cards each Sunday during the last hymn or anytime before you leave worship. Updated prayer cards are available in the pew racks. Simply complete the card with your prayer request and indicate whether your request is confidential or may be shared with the CUMC Prayer Team, during the Prayers of the People in worship, and/or in publications like the weekly bulletin and Enews. At the conclusion of each Sunday, I will collect the cards. Confidential requests will be shared with a smaller, confidential prayer team. Prayer requests that may be shared will be emailed early each week to those who are part of the CUMC Prayer Team.
The CUMC Prayer Team is open to anyone who would like to commit to praying for the needs of our congregation and community. Prayer participants will receive one weekly email containing the prayer requests submitted that week. All prayer requests will be removed after 1 month, and can be added again if prayer is still needed. In addition to requests from our congregation, we will also receive prayer requests from our neighbors at Grace Grocery, and we will continue to receive prayer requests submitted online through our church website. From time to time, there may also be a follow-up email when a new or ongoing prayer need arises.
If you would like to become part of the CUMC Prayer Team and receive the weekly prayer email, please contact our Administrative Assistant, Alexa Puffenberger, and she will add you to the list. But this renewed Prayer Ministry is not only about receiving an email with a list to pray for during the week. We also want to create opportunities for us to pray together. Beginning in October, we will gather in the sanctuary for a time of corporate prayer at 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, immediately before our monthly Church Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. This time of prayer is open to everyone, not just Church Council leaders and members, but anyone who would like to come and pray for CUMC, our community, and the needs that are on our hearts.
My hope is that this renewed Prayer Ministry will help us become an even more prayerful congregation: a church where children, youth, adults, longtime members, newer friends, and everyone in between know that they have a place in the ministry of prayer. You do not need to have the “right” words or a particular experience with prayer. You simply need a willing heart.
Sometimes prayer means asking God for healing. Sometimes it means giving thanks. Sometimes it means sitting with grief or uncertainty. Sometimes it means praying for someone we know, and sometimes it means praying for a neighbor whose name we may never know. And sometimes prayer is simply listening for what God might be saying to us. As we continue to Love, Grow, and Go, may prayer be woven more deeply into the fabric of our life together. I invite you to consider both sides of this ministry: What prayer might you need to share? And for whom might God be inviting you to pray? May our renewed Prayer Ministry become one more way that we discover that we are never carrying life’s joys and burdens alone. We are a community of faith, held together by God’s grace and by the prayers we offer for one another. May we be a people who pray, and a people who know that our prayers matter.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Christy
