The parish leadership team at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Panama City, Florida, is taking our challenge of incorporating intentional prayer very seriously. Fr. Michael Nixon is the pastor at St. Dominic, and he’s brought his leadership team to two Amazing Parish conferences.

We interviewed AP Ambassador Mark Gutcher, who told us about some of the creative ways their team prays intentionally for the parish.

Weekly Holy Hours
“Each of us (on the leadership team) has committed to at least a 60 minute holy hour each week, praying for the parish in front of the Blessed Sacrament in our Adoration Chapel. Even if a parish doesn’t have a dedicated Adoration chapel, the leadership team members could easily pray in the church by their tabernacle. We’ve actually been doing this for several years, since the 2015 Amazing Parish conference in Denver. There is no better way to keep the team truly focused on our mission than doing holy hours.”

Prayer in the Pews
“We used to begin our weekly leadership team meetings in the Adoration chapel for about 30 minutes, again praying for the parish. We now start in the main church instead. We each sit in a different section of the church, praying specifically for those who sit in those seats during the Masses. For me, it has made my prayer much more personal. I also have attended different Masses than I normally attend so I can see the faces and make at least some personal connections with those parishioners for whom I am praying.”

Mark also shared, “These are a few very simple things we are doing or have done with the St. Dominic leadership team to keep ourselves grounded in prayer as individuals and as a group.  These are simple things that any parish leadership team can implement.”

If your parish leadership team would like some help or additional ideas for implementing intentional prayer at your parish, please contact our Parish Support Manager at 303-481-4320.

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