The Bridge in Plain Text
Issue To Be Used Any Time After
March 1, 2010
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The Bridge
A monthly publication of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, ELCA
Connecting the congregational, synodical, and churchwide expressions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Prayer Networks
By Robin McCullough-Bade
Prayer is not just for pastors. All of God’s people are invited to pray on the behalf of others. Here are some ways to include your congregation in prayer:
Extending Sunday Prayers Throughout the Week
Encourage worshippers to continue to pray throughout the week for those who have been included in prayer at worship. Take this extension of prayer beyond Sunday morning very seriously. Do not let Sunday morning be the only time the congregation remembers prayer requests. Frequently, extend an invitation to the congregation to be intentional about remembering in their personal, daily prayers the prayer requests listed in the bulletin. (Assuming prayer requests are printed in the bulletin - a good idea!) People might want to get in the habit of putting the prayer requests (listed in the worship bulletin) in a place where they can be easily reviewed during the week for prayer. Add any requests announced during worship.
A simple written invitation in your weekly bulletin might include, "Please pray this week for the following..." Here are some possibilities for weekly prayer requests:
- Those celebrating birthdays this week.
- Those celebrating anniversaries.
- Those facing illness, loss or other needs.
- Those God might be stirring to come and worship with your congregation next Sunday.
- The pastor, staff and leaders of the congregation.
Prayer Chains
E-mail is a simple way to notify people about prayer requests; one button and many are notified.
Some will choose to be notified by phone. Arrange the phone tree so persons are calling friends or those whom they regularly greet. (Hopefully they would be more aware of good times to call, vacation schedules, etc.) One suggestion is to have no one contact more than three or four persons. Make it as simple as possible.
Random Prayer Groups
Encourage the congregation to pray for each other by randomly placing three names in an envelope. Invite each person in the congregation to select an envelope. During a designated stretch of time (Advent, Lent, summer, 6 weeks), pray for those names in your envelope.
Prayer Teams
Organize groups interested in fervently praying in a particular area of interest. Some suggestions on how to organize groups can be found in the full version of this article.
Full article at archive.elca.org/prayer/resources/networks.html
Monthly Bible Verse
This Bible verse was selected by Harold Usgaard, bishop of the
Southeastern Minnesota Synod, for everyone in the synod to study.
"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving."
Colossians 4:2
About Our Synod
The Southeastern Minnesota Synod is a faith community of 131,000 baptized
people in 184 congregations as well as related institutions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Its geographic area includes
15 counties in the southeastern corner of Minnesota.
The Bridge is a monthly
publication of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, ELCA. For more information,
contact the synod office:
Southeastern Minnesota Synod,
ELCA
1001 14th St. NW, Suite 300
Rochester, MN 55901-2551
(507) 280-9457
www.semnsynod.org
This issue is designed to be
used any time after March 1, 2010.
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