What do you mean by Prayers of the People? It’s what we call it the intercessions in the Church of England. We hold ourselves, and the people and situations we care about before God, and pray that he will show his reconciling, healing and transforming love. The term Prayers of the People is used in the USA to remind us that it’s the prayers of the whole of our congregations.
What sort of thing can we pray about? Anything that’s a concern of us as a community – the world we live in, the whole human family, our parish and the wider church.
Why do we never seem to pray about…? We all have our own collection of issues that we feel really deeply about. Your life experience or your particular interests can bring balance to the prayers over the weeks – the more different voices the better, so that the prayers are genuinely the prayers of the people, not just the clergy.
Who can lead the intercessions? You don’t need to be qualified in any way. You need a reasonably clear voice (don’t forget there’s a microphone) and the experience of praying on your own.
It’s best if the clergy prepare the intercessions – they are trained to do it. I wouldn’t know what to say. There are many helpful books we can lend you to help you prepare. When I first led the intercessions in a church, I would base them on a book, and change a few words here and there, adding in events from the news and local concerns. As I got more confident, I changed more of the text, and developed my own style. If you come to writing prayers for the first time, one of us will talk it through with you and offer you suggestions and support.
I’ve never even read in church. Not necessarily a barrier, but if you prefer, join the list of people who take turns to read from the Bible as a first step.
What happens if I’m on the rota for a particular week, but something comes up. I don’t like to let people down. Tell us as soon as you know. If you are ill on the day, get a message to us if you can. These things happen, and one of the clergy will step in.
I’m not sure, but I might be interested in leading the prayers occasionally. Just let us know, and we can have a chat about it.
Rev Sue
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 