The Healing and Wholeness Team at All Saints Ecclesall was established many years ago and is a trusted and valued part of the Church. At the moment, there are 18 of us on the team with about a dozen involved in Sunday ministry. We offer prayer after two of the morning services and the evening service each Sunday, as well as at Healing Services and special events such as women’s evenings. Although the team is quite big, we are still aiming to grow, in numbers but perhaps more importantly in diversity, as we seek to look more like the congregations we serve. We pray in pairs, but members of the team are happy to ‘jump on’ if a queue builds up, regardless of whether they are on rota. We have found that if people have to wait for prayer, they can become self-conscious and wander off.
The team is strongly bonded. We keep in touch day by day through email, through which we share emergency prayer requests and answers to prayer. Each member of the team commits to pray through the week for an ever-growing list of people. The list includes members of the church but also a large number of friends and family, as well as people who have been referred to us by those who know that we love God and people, and that we will pray for individuals and situations for as long as it takes. Many of the people on the list have no other contact with church and would not consider themselves ‘Christians’. Yet, they often acknowledge that God is at work in their lives and circumstances and some now pray themselves. We see the list as the outreach part of our ministry; it is also the most challenging part, as it involves much sadness. Keeping in touch with and praying for so many people, whilst holding their information in complete confidence within the group, requires huge commitment and perseverance. But many rely on this support.
Another way in which we support each other is by meeting monthly for discussion and prayer. We usually have a topic for study which we follow for several meetings. For example, we have looked at mental health, unanswered prayer (God on Mute by Pete Greig) and listening. We have just returned to the ministry of blessing, using the Blessings Course by Roy Godwin. We enjoy and benefit from learning and reflecting together on our practice.
In recent years, we have also taken responsibility for a prayer shawl ministry, which began in the spring of 2019. We don’t do the knitting – there is a lovely team who meet regularly to knit and natter. Their own prayers become part of their shawls, but we also pray over the shawls before they are distributed. As we are aware of so many of the needs within the church and beyond, we are in a good position to hand them out. We will usually spend some time with the recipient and pray with them if they feel comfortable with that. Quite a few shawls have been handed out to members of the local community, including those who are terminally ill. People are grateful for this tangible expression of the love and care of God and the church. This really sums up what we are about: communicating the love of God to those around us as we pray for their healing and wholeness.
