[Magdalen] Prayer List

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

I think we have always used the full name in most churches I've been at.
After all, while it's fine to state just the first name, it's annoying to
have no clue whatsoever what is going on, who's involved, why, etc. If the
prayers are for God only, then why waste our time? Yikes.

The new rector set up a system where every name on the prayer list had the
name, the reason, the date entered, the person who submitted the name, and
the time period. He got a bit of flack when one day, all of a sudden, the
prayer list, which had gotten to be quite long, became much shorter.  He
was a former oil exec, and just quietly stood his ground. Some names, it
turned out, had been on for years, nobody had any idea where they came
from. Some, of course were dead, and some were recovered. So the whole list
got purged, so we could start again. After a week or so, the world was once
again a safe place, and nobody left the church who we didn't want to go
anyway.

We had a prayer chain which I had started a few years earlier, and that
working was essentially a private function,, although we constantly asked,
"Should this be added to the prayers of the people?" The group of lay
visitors was very active in putting forth names for the list and for
letting folks know when a name ought to come off.

The group was very conscientious about privacy, but I think the new
rector's decision to make the whole thing systematic (any info missing, the
name won't run. Period.) is the best.

I can easily imagine how problems arise with this sort of thing, because in
the midst of an emergency, the prayers just get started. If the person is
quite ill, they are perhaps too ill for anyone to ask if it's all right
that their name goes on the list, so if there were a little box "consent
obtained" often would not get checked.

In the instance of professionals, it's a dog eat dog world. Asking for
prayer for a competitor just to put them off balance or erode confidence in
them would not surprise me today, sad to say.  Making sure that the name
always has a name of who submitted it eliminates the anonymous tip addition
to the prayers. Is it not a sad state of affairs when one has to police the
prayers of the people to assure that names are not added to the detriment
of the person named?

I was in a choir that had one member before my time who was a little
careless about attendance at rehearsals. The director finally told him that
he needed to listen to him privately to assure that he had a good enough
grasp of the music to sing in the concert. The man quit on the spot. We
were making final arrangements for a concert at a church and the person
told us, with some confusion, that they had cancelled the concert.
Apparently, someone had called them, telling them that the concert had to
be cancelled.  All they could say for sure was that it was a man's voice.
Sad times...

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 11:22 AM, Marilyn Cepeda <mcepeda514 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> How does your church handle prayer list?  I just had a church call from a
> professional person whose name appeared on our list without the person’s
> knowledge or consent. The caller indicated that rumors were now all over
> the city, and calls from all kinds of people checking on caller’s health
> were coming in.
>
> Rumors such as this can not only be a nuisance but they have potential to
> impact business if
> word spreads that caller is ill.
>
> We are asking in writing, newsletter and bulletin, the no name be placed on
> our prayer list without
> that person’s knowledge AND consent.
>
> Our caller was gracious but firm about the seriousness of his complaint.
> The next person may not be.
> I know people are well meaning, but good intentions can run amuck.
>
> Marilyn
> --
> Marilyn (Owens, Palmero) Cepeda
>