Good Vibrations
Parishioners use pagers to let others know, 'We're praying for you'

By Clint Cooper
Chattanooga Times Free Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Sick, recovering or grieving members at Tyner United Methodist Church can literally hear the prayers of their fellow members.

When church members pray for a person, they let the person know a petition to God has been made in his or her name by calling the individual's pager. When the pager answers, the caller presses 7777, which, in turn, causes the person's pager to vibrate and alert him or her that someone is praying for them.

"We wanted the folks who were in need of prayer to know that they were being prayed for," said Buddy Nichols, lay ministry director at Tyner UMC, "and to encourage our people to become more involved in prayer. We've seen both realized."

The ministry was organized in June by Tyner's weekly men's prayer breakfast group. A group member had heard of a similar ministry at a church in Franklin, Tenn., and the group decided to implement it at the Chattanooga District church.

The Rev. Mickey Rainwater, senior pastor, said it is one thing to be told someone is praying for you, another to hear secondhand someone has prayed for you, and still another to spiritually know you have been prayed for. But when the pager goes off, he said, the person can be confident someone has just prayed for him or her.

"The fact that you've just been prayed for is a source of encouragement," he said. "It's a source of comfort. There's no doubt about it. Our folk engage in it in a pretty faithful way."

The men's ministry group - and two Sunday school classes - purchased 15 pagers from church member Allen Ray, owner of River City Wireless, who donated the airtime.

Nichols said all the pagers are programmed with numbers that had suffixes relating to God, healing, faith, or the church. The suffixes spell out, among other things, "well," "word," "rock," "Lord," "live" and "TUMC" (for Tyner UMC).

The group tagged the effort the Ralph Pennington Prayer Pager Ministry in honor of the Tyner member and former Kirkman Technical High School principal who founded the men's breakfast more than 30 years ago and is still active in it.

People who have had the pagers uniformly have given the ministry glowing praise, according to Nichols.

Rose Dover, Tyner director of music, briefly kept the pager carried by her late husband, Charlie, after he died in August.

"He thought it was great," she said. "I kept it a week or two. It was helpful to me to know people were still praying for me. I also felt included in his prayers (by other members)."

Dover said her husband could not feel the pager vibrate, so they changed it to play "Yankee Doodle Dandy." She said the pager would sing out at all hours of the day or evening.

"I'd tell him somebody was praying for him," she said, "and he would say, 'Isn't that wonderful.'"

Bob Pierce, a Tyner member undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for a brain tumor, has had a pager about six weeks and said it vibrates up to 20 times a day.

"I've gotten a lot of prayers," he said. "(Tyner members are) involved. They're a great bunch of people. We kind of look after each other as best we can. I have found (the pager ministry) just great."

Ben Smith, a Tyner member and prayer breakfast regular, has had a pager almost from the inception of the ministry, since it coincided with his diagnosis of cancer. While he appreciated the prayers, he said the vibration of the pager irritated him when he took his initial chemotherapy treatments and was quite sick.

"I just didn't feel good," he said. "(The pager) was buzzing, and I put it on the bedside table. Then I put it in the drawer. Then, finally, I put it in the pocket of the pants I was going to wear the next day. I know somebody was praying for me, but I could not sleep."

Now, he keeps it on, and when it vibrates, he says, "Thank you," the retiree said. He also calls the other people with pagers.

"It's good for the church to be able to do that," Smith said. "It's good for me, too. I appreciate them praying for me. I hope the prayers will do me some good."

Nichols' wife, LeeAnne, has had one of the pagers since July after undergoing surgery for a tumor on her spine and beginning rehabilitation therapy.

"I know firsthand that (she) appreciates it," he said. "When she's at the doctor or has a therapy or care person at the house, if the pager goes off, she can share with them about ministry at Tyner. So people are fed exponentially."

The list of people with pagers, and their numbers, is published at least weekly so members can note it, Nichols said.

People who have prayed for each person on the list can call a number with the suffix "pray," and each individual with a pager will be alerted, he said.

Clint Cooper is faith editor for the Chattanooga Times Free Press and a member at First-Centenary United Methodist Church. Reprinted with permission.

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