Prayer Ministries
Prayer Center
The Prayer Center is located in our administration building and is available 24 hours for meditation and prayer. Contact the Church Office for the door code. The warm, comfortable, and inviting area is a good setting for quiet time with God.
Devotional materials, prayer aids, and music are available to assist you in your personal time of prayer.
Prayer Requests
The church’s prayer ministry includes prayer vigils and an intercessory prayer chain for the needs and concerns of the membership and surrounding community. Contact the church office to place a need on the intercessory prayer chain.
Prayer Shawls
The Prayer Shawl Ministry Team creates shawls and other items for you to share with those who need encouragement. When you give a shawl away, you are sharing the love and prayers of NEUMC.
The prayer shawls are kept in the Prayer Center if one is needed. Please remember to sign the journal. If you need assistance, please see a staff member.
Please contact the church office if you are interested in joining the Prayer Shawl Ministry Team.
Upper Room
Join Pastor Antoinette and other members of our congregation as they lead a morning devotion and prayer each Wednesday morning, via conference call. Please encourage friends, family, and others in our community to join this time of devotion and prayer.
Upper Room currently takes place every Wednesday morning at 6:00AM, for a duration of 15-20 minutes. To join, you can use the dial-in number (605) 313-5873 and the access code 2888884#.
Please note, the dial-in number is a conference call line designated for our time of prayer. “Whether we think of; or speak to, God,whether we act or suffer for him all is prayer, when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him. All that a Christian does, even in eating and sleeping, is prayer, when it is done in simplicity, according to the order of God, without either adding to or diminishing from it by his own choice.” – John Wesley
Prayer Labyrinth
Labyrinths, unlike mazes, offer a single winding path that leads to the center and back out. Their presence stretches back to ancient times, with the earliest Christian labyrinth discovered in a 4th-century Algerian basilica.
By the Middle Ages, labyrinths became a spiritual practice within the Church. Often serving as an alternative for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, labyrinths were a common sight in 25% of cathedrals.
Walking a labyrinth offers a unique opportunity. It’s a chance to quiet our minds, deepen our connection with God’s presence, and prayerfully listen. There’s no prescribed way to navigate a prayer labyrinth-the beauty lies in the personal journey.
Here are some suggestions, however, to help you make your labyrinth walk a truly intentional and prayerful experience.
Prepare: Take a moment to breathe deeply and center yourself. Choose a Scripture, word, or phrase to carry into the Labyrinth.
The Journey In: Follow the path, let go and don’t try to control the experience. Walk with an open heart and an open mind.
Reaching the Center: Receive what insight or thoughts the moment offers. Reflect, listen, pray, or journal. Stay as long as you need.
The Journey Out: Return following the same path. Reflect on how you might carry this experience into your life.
Labyrinth Locator is a free-to-use labyrinth database that allows you to search for labyrinths around the world, and find out more about them. Please feel free to explore their page here and find out where else in your community you can experience this spiritual journey.
Prayer Path
As you walk the path to each bench, walk slowly. Take in what you see, hear, smell, and notice. The Prayer Path is something to experience, it is not meant to be completed quickly. We encourage you take a small notebook and a Bible with you as you may want to journal your thoughts and reflections, record prayers, or draw a picture.
You will see from the map below that the path begins at the Prayer Labyrinth and ends near the amphitheater (located closest to the education building) with a series of stops (prayer benches) along the way. Each bench has a sign for designated prayer along the Prayer Path. You can engage the benches on the path in any order you desire.
As God speaks into your life, consider sharing what you are learning or experiencing with others. Whether you visit midweek or on a beautiful Saturday morning, we pray that your journey on the Prayer Path will be a great blessing to you and those you encounter along the way.
The prayer labyrinth and path were made possible by Relevance to Resonance: Exploring the Practices of Transcendence in Ministry and Congregational Life by Lilly Endowment Inc. in association with Luther Seminary.