Pray with St Luke’s: A Renewed Structure for Community Care
One of the simplest and most powerful things we do as a church is pray for one another.
I’ve been in the parish now for almost a year and a half, and in that time I’ve had the honour of getting to know many of you over a cup of tea, coffee, or the occasional beer. As I’ve met with you there is one type of story that has been repeated to me more than any other. It’s a story of lives being turned upside down. You’ve told me of some time or other when life was sailing on the calm…until it wasn’t. You’ve told me of illness, of great grief, of all kinds of difficulty and uncertainty that have landed in your lives and sent you spinning.
In itself, though hard to swallow, this repetition is no great revelation. I’ve not been around for long, but I’ve been around long enough to know that these kinds of crises come for us all. These lives that we’ve been given are great mixed up bundles of joy and grief, of the ever so light and the oh so heavy. What has struck me, though, is something else: over and over you’ve told me that when your world fell apart, it was your church family at St Luke’s that held you up and helped put it back together. Respite care. Shoulders to cry on. Meal trains. And prayer, and prayer, and prayer.
In moments where life feels utterly beyond our control, the prayer of the community becomes a powerful expression of love, solidarity, and hope. Meeting one another in the midst of shared lack is part of our community of communion. Our prayer in times of need is an important part of what binds us together, and it is beautiful to hear of.
But asking for prayer is also vulnerable. To receive the prayers of a community, we must dare to name our need, to share something tender, uncertain, or unresolved. For some, that can feel like a bridge too far. And so sometimes, people suffer quietly.
It is my deep desire that anyone connected to St Luke’s who would value prayer feels safe and empowered to ask for it. So, over recent months, I’ve been working with the PCC and members of our prayer team to think carefully about how we communicate and organise our shared prayer life- what we share, who we share it with, and how we ensure that dignity, consent, and choice sit at the centre.
We want to be a community that feels like family, where stories of care in times of need abound. And we want to be a community where those who are new, unsure, or just beginning to explore faith can participate with confidence. So we’ve been building structures of prayer that are empowering, clear, and trustworthy.
What this means in practice
On Sundays, during our gathered prayers the names of those who have asked for prayer may be shown on the screen. Only names will be shared, with no details, as a simple way of holding one another before God together. During the week, a prayer email will be sent to those who have chosen to join our praying community. This includes a little more detail, along with updates and thanksgivings, so we can continue to journey with one another in prayer. Occasionally, urgent requests may also be shared through this channel. And if you ask for prayer, you will guide what is shared, where it is shared, and for how long, with options to update, extend, or withdraw your request at any time.
This new system is not complex, but the hope behind it is simpler still: that prayer at St Luke’s would feel safe and approachable, that barriers would be removed, and that no one would have to face hard things alone.
To join the community who pray, to request prayer, or to read more head over to our website.