First Baptist Church in Nashville, like many other churches, has a time of corporate prayer as part of their worship each Sunday.  During this time of prayer, the church remembers those who grieving, those who are ill, and they pray for individuals who represent various groups (i.e. active military, seminary students, and missionaries).  Recently they added to this list members of the congregation that are in various ministry positions.  A couple of Sundays ago, I was the first of these ministers to be remembered in the morning prayer.  I had not been prepared for that and was surprised by the calling of my name and the description of my ministry in Pastoral Counseling.  It was quite humbling to have the church body pray for me in my work.  It made me realize that I do not do that often enough in my own prayer time.

I know many who serve in various ministry and non-ministry positions have difficulties unique to their position, but I think the work of Pastoral Care that Chaplains and Pastoral Counselors do is particularly isolating and lonely.  Day in and day out, Pastoral Care givers are meeting with families, patients, clients, staff, and others in private and intimate conversations.  They do this for the benefit of the person with wich they meet.  These kinds of conversations can be emotionally draining.  Many who do this kind of work often work in small departments if they have peers at all.  The support of others through professional orgainizations and personal connections is vital for renewal.

One way to assist those in these types of ministry is to remember them in prayer.  Perhaps send them a note of encouragement and let them know they are being prayed for.  The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship publishes a calendar of all Chaplains and Pastoral Counselors endorsed by them.  The endorsed persons are listed by their birthdays so any day of the year, you can identify someone to pray for that day.  This publication is also available online at http://www.thefellowship.info/Pray/Chaplains.   There are also other prayer calendars for other ministries and missions available on the CBF website.  It is a great resource for remembering others in prayer.  I hope you will take a look at these and remember those who are involved in ministry in your prayers.