Members of Shelton Church built a prayer chain of seven groups in response to a challenge by Tyler Long, pastor, as part of the church revitalization project.
Washington Conference is expanding its church revitalization program from three churches per session to 10 churches per 18-month session to help churches find new growth.
Shelton members are geographically spread out over a large area, which makes it difficult to meet in person other than on Sabbath. The suggestion to start small prayer groups that could meet either online or via telephone particularly fit well with Shelton Church's culture.
Seven individuals agreed to be prayer group leaders, thus providing a daily prayer chain seven days a week. Each group has four or five members who meet with their leader through Zoom or via phone call to pray for incoming requests.
To send a request, the church’s website features a prayer request link on the home page. The requestor provides his or her name and email address with the prayer request or praise.
The requestor can choose to label their prayer request as a regular request, time sensitive or urgent. There is also an option to note if a pastoral visit is desired. The request is then automatically directed to each prayer group leader who then gives the request out to their group members.
Shelton Church is now receiving requests from all over the town, state, nation and even some parts of the world.
The main focus of this prayer group effort is to make certain that each and every request is prayed for every day of the week. Shelton Church is following the apostle Paul’s advice to pray without ceasing.
