I have prayer story to share with you…
Last year we started celebrating baptismal anniversaries on the 2nd Sunday of each month. After the hymn of the day (following the sermon) we take some time to celebrate with those celebrating a baptismal anniversary for that month. I share a little illustration highlighting a promise we receive in baptism and then invite those people forward to the altar rail for a blessing. The blessing is one I learned from my internship supervisor (who also celebrates baptismal anniversaries). It goes as follows: "The Lord bless and keep this day and throughout the coming year; keeping you in the promises He made to you when you were baptized. Amen" This is all done while the organist plays some soft music.
Well…yesterday was baptismal anniversary day. As I looked at the list of names in the bulletin I noticed first that the list was pretty small and then that only three of those people were in worship…two of which I did not think would come up. So I decided to do something different. I invited those who have a baptismal anniversary to come forward for a blessing and anyone else who just wants to receive a blessing. I then went up to the altar rail and waited…and waited. Finally one man came up with his wife (her name was not listed). Then a couple others. Then B came up front. I knew it was not her baptismal anniversary, but she was going to have major surgery on Monday to re-section her stomach to remove a tumor. So I laid my hands on her head and we had a moment of prayer together and then I gave her a blessing. With a tear in her eye she whispered a thank you to me and sat down.
This afternoon B’s daughter called me and said the 3 hour surgery went great. They re-sectioned her stomach but also removed her spleen, gall bladder and part of her pancreas. B is going to be a little surprised when she comes to.
Wow…God is awesome. I knew B was nervous about this surgery but something always told me that everything was going to be fine…and it was. This is nothing else but our awesome God watching out for B. And the thing is…I did nothing but lay my hands on B’s head and said a few words. B went into surgery today knowing that her church family was praying for her. I wonder if she felt a hundred hands being laid on her head. I wonder if she felt goosebumps as the Holy Spirit made itself known to her. I wonder of the doctors felt God’s hand guiding them throughout the surgery. I know B knows that she was not alone and that right there gives me great comfort.
Thank you God for being faithful and hearing our prayers. I know that you don’t always give us exactly what we ask for because you know our needs better than anyone else. But I know you hear us. I know that you want to hear from us. Thank you for demonstrating your power to me today through B. Amen!
Sometimes we all need a little boost through answered prayer. Isn’t our God awesome! AMEN!
-edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 
Wow. Good stuff. And we never know who will be touched when we reach out, only that God is leading. I pray for B’s swift recovery and that although life will be different, that she is restored.
I’ve never heard of celebrating the anniversary of one’s baptism but it sounds wonderful. I think I will pass the idea along to our admin council.
Love the idea of celebrating the anniversary of one’s baptism … and love how you incorporated the invitation to anyone else wanting to receive a blessing … Love the way God works. Thanks for sharing this story.
love this. what a great idea. Also what I love about doing the occasional healing service. We worried that no one came up, but they just lined up to receive a blessing.
yes, the power of prayer.
My internship congregation sends a postcard to people on the anniversary of their baptism. When my kids each got thiers they thought it was so cool that the church remembered their baptism.
On festival Sundays we also inserted the rite of Thanksgiving for Baptism from ELW (note to non Lutherans; that’s our new new worship book). People seem to enjoy remembering their baptism in such a way.
I like that idea of sending postcards. As for the rite of Thanksgiving for Baptism, we are still exploring the new ELW, but I like what I see so far.
And you are right…I have also found people are enjoying remembering their baptism. I wasn’t sure how this would be received when we started doing this last September, but so far so good.
For me the rememberance of our baptism is a reminder of verb usage: I am baptized NOT I was baptized.
When I arrived here, we were already doing some great things in terms of baptism – praying every week for baptismal anniversaries, giving out baptismal chests, and sending out the Splash! postcards.
We have switched over to ELW, but I think we need to get a little more used to them before we start using the Thanksgiving for Baptism. I am thinking that we might switch from the Confession to the Thanksgiving for the season of Easter in 2008.