Prayer, Care, Share
Rooted in Christ. Shaped by Listening. Sustained by the Spirit.
At Anchor Bay, we believe the love of God is always moving toward people - restoring, tending, healing, and gathering. Throughout Scripture, God’s care is never abstract. It comes to us through the prayers of the saints, the compassion of the community, the hands of those who bring meals, sit beside hospital beds, listen on the long road home, and speak hope in the valley. The early church lived this rhythm intuitively. They prayed for one another, carried one another’s burdens, and discerned God’s presence together. This was not the work of a few specialists but the shared calling of a people shaped by the Spirit.
Prayer, Care, Share is our way of embodying that ancient, relational wisdom in our own context. It is ABC’s congregational care network designed to help each person in our community know: you are held in prayer, accompanied in joy and struggle, and invited into deeper friendship with Jesus.
We do this because Christ is present in each household, every story, and every season. Our ministry is simply learning to notice and tend what God is already doing among us.
How does Prayer, Care, Share work?
Pairs of trained leaders from the Prayer and Care teams are given a group of people or households in our church to proactively pray for and care for. They serve side by side, not as experts but as companions who help people feel seen, supported, and spiritually cared for. Anyone who has been part of our church for at least 3 months is welcome to reach out to the Share Team (Spiritual Listeners) for the ministry of listening.
Prayer Team
Every household at Anchor Bay can be connected with a Prayer Companion - someone who regularly holds you and your household in prayer and helps us stay connected to one another in the ordinary and extraordinary seasons of life.
-
Prayer Team Leaders might…
Pray for you regularly, even when you don’t have a specific prayer request to share.
Check in from time to time with a simple text or email to let you know you’re being thought of and prayed for. You never need to respond unless you want to.
Offer to pray with you by phone during significant or difficult moments, such as before a job interview, surgery, or other important event.
Celebrate life’s milestones with you, such as graduations, weddings, new babies, new jobs, and other moments of transition and joy.
Remember important anniversaries or difficult dates and reach out with care and prayer.
Help connect you with additional support when something comes up that might benefit from more practical or ongoing care.
Care Team
Sometimes prayer and a simple check-in are enough. Other times, life brings circumstances that call for more tangible, ongoing support. The Care Team helps make sure that people in our church family don’t have to navigate those seasons alone and will offer tangible care like meals, hospital visits, or financial support through our Benevolence Fund.
-
Care Team Leaders might…
Reach out personally when they learn that you or someone in your household is going through a difficult or significant season.
Help coordinate practical care, such as meal trains or meals from our Nourish & Nurture ministry.
Visit you in the hospital or at home, and bring Communion when that would be meaningful.
Offer presence and support around funerals, memorials, or receptions.
Help connect you with financial assistance through the Benevolence Fund when appropriate.
Connect you with a pastor or other resources when additional spiritual, emotional, or professional support would be helpful.
Walk alongside you over time, offering prayer, presence, and practical support without trying to fix everything or carry it all for you.
The Share Team Ministry offers an opportunity to pause from your schedule and check-in with God on how your soul is doing. Trained reflective listeners offer an unhurried, uninterrupted space to process your thoughts, experiences, and emotions – listening to God with you and for your life. Their goal is to affirm God's working in your life already and to make a space for you to discern where God may be inviting you to cultivate a deeper relationship with God.
Share Team
-
Reach out to the Share Team when you are:
Seeking discernment about a decision or season of life
Longing for a place to slow down and listen
Wondering what God might be doing in or through your experiences
Wrestling with questions about your faith
Processing a significant experience, transition, or season of change
Simply feeling the need to check in with your soul
See below for an FAQ or to sign up for a session.
Meet with the Share Team
-
The Share Team is one of the branches of Anchor Bay Church’s Prayer, Care, Share ministry, our congregational care network. We are trained reflective listeners who are available to sit with you and listen to whatever part of your story needs space to be expressed and heard, without judgment, fixing, or directive advice-giving. Our hope is to offer time to be listened to and space to wonder and discern where God is with you in your story.
-
Spiritual listeners are not offering counseling, therapy, theological direction or debate, mentorship, or ongoing discipleship during these times. Though some of us have training or may be knowledgeable about some of these resources, we are not listening with an agenda or to problem solve, nor to be your life coach.
If you would like to be connected to a spiritual director, mental health professional, or another ongoing resource, visit our Mental Health & Spiritual Direction resource page.
-
Typically, two people from the Share Team will greet you at the church to meet with you for about one hour. There is a delightful meeting space in the church upstairs with comfy chairs set apart especially for quiet, safe listening. (If for any reason stairs are difficult, let us know. We can make other arrangements.)
Both listeners are there to be present with you, and one will facilitate your time by inviting you to share whatever is on your heart and mind. Most of the time, you are the one speaking and the listeners are listening. Sometimes there will be questions that invite you to stay with what you are sharing; sometimes there will be pauses to help you reflect. There may be warm smiles, even laughter, and sometimes there may be tears. We also welcome the opportunity to pray with you before you go, if you would like.
-
This is a ministry of care for those who call Anchor Bay their home church and have been attending for at least three months. It is to give space for one individual at a time to be fully listened to, therefore, it is not for couples, family members, or friends to sign up together.
We ask that those who meet with the Share Team initiate their own session, rather than being signed up by a friend or family member.
-
This ministry is for anyone in the Anchor Bay community who is 16 years or older, who desires to sign up on their own initiative (rather than by a parent or caregiver).
*All team members meet the background check requirements to minister to minors and follow our Vulnerable Populations Safety Policy.
-
You don’t need to be in crisis or have a specifically spiritual question to come. Ordinary joys, questions, transitions, and struggles are all welcome. Here are a few things you might want to bring to this listening space.
Navigating a change or something new in my life
Sorting through loss or difficulty or hurt
Something I heard in the sermon this week is tugging at my heart
Discerning a decision
Trying to love well when …..
Desiring to make peace when…
Wanting to have a voice when….
I just got home from this trip/event and need to process what happened
I am experiencing something in my prayers and need another believer to express it to
-
The spiritual listeners on this team take confidentiality seriously. What you share is treated with care and discretion. We ask for your permission before sharing your story outside the listening session, including with pastors or other Prayer, Care, Share team members, except when a safety concern requires additional help.
Confidentiality has limits when there are concerns about harm to yourself or others, abuse, neglect, or someone’s safety. In those situations, we may need to involve a pastor or an appropriate professional or authority. We will explain the concern and the next steps to you as clearly as possible, and whenever possible before sharing information. We will share only what is needed to seek appropriate help.
-
Yes! You may request particular listeners, subject to their availability.
-
The Share Team will try to be available for up to three sessions over the course of a year, if needed and desired. If more frequent or regular support seems a better fit, we may suggest other resources, such as ongoing spiritual direction or therapy.
-
Complete the Share Team request form! You can expect to hear from your spiritual listeners within a few days to arrange a time to meet.
We’re excited to connect with you!
Prayer Resources
Our Prayer Ministry prays through church and community prayer requests throughout the week and in-person after the services on Sundays in the back of the Sanctuary. Every Sunday, the prayer team gathers in the Parlor at 9:30am before the service to pray for the church and the world. All are welcome to come and pray!
Care Resources
Meal Ministries
-
Mealtrains are often set up to support those going through with life transitions (such as during cancer treatment or after the birth of a baby or death of a loved one) by providing meal assistance.
An average of seven meals are provided which can be requested all in one week or spread out over several weeks. Please reach out to susan (at) anchorbaychurch.org to make arrangements for yourself or another person.
-
Nourish & Nurture is Anchor Bay’s freezer meal ministry. Meals are prepared and stocked by volunteers and can be used to support individuals or families - typically during those times in life when meals need to be provided quickly, an on-going Mealtrain wouldn’t be appropriate, or only a meal or two is needed.
Some examples of this time might be - during a time of grief, divorce, chronic illness, or depression when a person might be too tired to prepare food.
Please reach out to laurie (at) anchorbaychurch.org if you or someone you know could use a freezer meal.
Financial Assistance
-
Anchor Bay Church has set up a Generosity fund to respond to needs within our community. We are able to offer assistance for short-term, acute needs for church members or those in close relationship with our community.
-
Please fill out this form to request help from this fund for you or someone you know. A member of our staff will follow up with next steps.
-
You can donate to the Benevolence Fund by selecting "Benevolence" from the drop-down menu. Thank you for allowing our church to serve you and be served by you!
Referrals
-
We believe that God made us for community, which means healing happens when we connect, empathize with each other, and carry one another’s burdens. While we don’t currently offer support or recovery groups in-house, our church is connected with a larger community that does. See below for information for recovery and support groups in our area and online. There is healing and hope in Christ.
Visit our Recovery & Support Groups page to get connected to local groups
-
Visit our Mental Health referrals page for first steps.
If you need more specific support or referrals, email mentalhealth (at) anchorbaychurch.org with the following (optional) information:
Insurance type if planning to go through insurance (no need to provide group or membership numbers)
Gender or faith preference
Preference of virtual or in-person
Area of expertise or specific training
-
For a comprehensive list of spiritual directors, visit the following Directories of Spiritual Directors: