How the Prayer Chain operates

Normally, prayer items will be forwarded to participants by email for Tuesday mornings.
Occasionally urgent matters may be sent on other days, as needs arise.
Prayer items will be numbered sequentially and cross-referenced, if appropriate.
For participants without email accounts, prayer items may be communicated by other means (e.g. by post, or verbatim by telephone).

The coordinators’ roles

All prayer requests will be directed to the coordinators, who will collate the current material on Monday evenings.
Prayer requests may be referred to the coordinators either directly, or through the minister, through a Pastoral Partner, by word of mouth, phone (or timely email).
Referrals to the prayer chain may be made by Brougham Place staff, or members of the prayer chain, congregation or community.

The prayer items will be clear, succinct and accurate statements that capture the circumstances as known, together with any specific directions requested.

The commitment undertaken by members of the prayer chain is to pray for each current prayer item.
Members may incorporate the prayer items into their own private prayer patterns, or make other personal arrangements, as appropriate.

It is essential that the operation of the prayer chain conforms to the requirements of the Privacy Act (2002) and the National Privacy Principles, as endorsed by the Uniting Church and Brougham Place Church Council, and that the prayer chain is underpinned by the values of respect, confidentiality and anonymity.
The person referring the prayer item will not necessarily be identified. No person mentioned in a prayer item will be identified by use of name or other descriptors that uniquely identify, unless explicit prior permission has been granted by that person. Verbal permission is acceptable. Even though an item may appear to be in the public domain, prior permission should be sought.
Requests or circumstances mentioned in the prayer items will be relayed only to chain members, and will not be further discussed outside the chain fellowship. Items may be discussed within the praying group only as the discussion bears on the proper functioning of the prayer chain.
Of course, chain members will not approach a person being prayed for in connection with the particular prayer request item on the basis of information sourced from the prayer chain circulation.

Although the participants of the prayer chain will not be listed publicly, members may sometimes receive prayer requests for inclusion in the chain, or items may come to their attention.
When this happens, the details given to you should be carefully and accurately noted, and these communicated to one of the coordinators as soon as possible.
It is important to ask the person who is requesting prayer support whether we have their permission, and the permission of all person(s) identified in the prayer item, to divulge their names and circumstances within the confidence of the circle of prayer chain members.

The Brougham Place Privacy Policy requires that personal data be kept securely. Because some prayer chain material circulated is considered to be of a sensitive nature, this means that where prayer items are noted, printed or kept on a computer hard drive, reasonable care should be taken to keep these records secure. When lists are no longer required or relevant, they should be destroyed or deleted.

The names and phone numbers of contact persons (including the coordinators) will regularly appear in the Brougham Place Order of Service.
From time to time, the operation of the prayer chain will be brought to the attention of the church community by other promotional opportunities.