GREENFIELD — While doctors and nurses care for the sick inside Hancock Regional Hospital, occasional passing motorists are calling on spiritual aid for them from outside in their cars.
Hancock Regional Hospital has posted “Designated Prayer Spot” parking space signs in the southwest corner of its lot.
Motorists can pull in, remain in their cars, and offer prayers for the patients and health care workers who are inside the hospital.
“We know that the power of our community and prayer is one of the many things that keeps people going during challenging times,” Jenn Cox, director of marketing and business development at the hospital, wrote in an email to the Daily Reporter. “Also, many have reached out offering prayer, words of encouragement, acts of kindness at every turn. So we decided to designate spots for people to continue to do those things while feeling like they could connect and be closer to our associates and organization as a whole.”
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In keeping with social distancing, the spaces in the lot at 801 N. State St. are marked at every other space — i.e., the three marked spaces alternate with two empty parking spaces, leaving a gap should more than one person pull in to pray.
Brandon Lavy, pulpit minister at Greenfield Church of Christ, said he prayed in one of the spaces Wednesday, April 15, and knew of several people from his congregation who planned to make a stop.
“I’m very thankful that Hancock Health is so cognizant to the spiritual needs of their patients and staff and making these efforts to allow the community to minister to them in this way while they work so hard to meet our physical needs,” he wrote in an email to the Daily Reporter. “I know there are so many in our community who are praying for their safety, health, wisdom, and courage and, while we can pray for those things from anywhere at any time, it seemed meaningful to me to be able to go physically and share some hope and peace with those on the frontlines (even if it was still from a distance).
“Prayer doesn’t always change our circumstances, but it does give us the peace we need to get through them.”
Zach Brubaker of McCordsville agreed there’s “no significant magical power about praying at a spot” but said if he were an employee or the family member of a patient and passed by the lot to find people praying in the spaces, “I’d be very encouraged by that.”
Brubaker’s wife, Abby, is a nurse in Hamilton County. He brought the idea to have a prayer time for healthcare workers to the church he attends, and on March 31 Realife Church led a prayer time atop Hancock Regional’s parking garage and live on Facebook. The video has drawn more than 5,000 views.
Later, Brubaker received a text from a friend about parking spaces being marked for prayer. He drove by on April 2 and saw the signs up.
Realife also sought to have people from its congregation cover time slots for 24 hours on Wednesday (April 15).
Paul Galbraith, one of the pastors at Brandywine Community Church in Greenfield, said Brandywine will launch a prayer initiative Sunday, encouraging people to sign up and go pray. He said several other churches have expressed interest as well.
“It’s a great way for the community to be united in prayer and rally behind our healthcare workers, first responders and everyone affected by this pandemic,” he wrote in an email to the Daily Reporter. “My hope is that the spots will be filled continually with people praying for the community.”
The “Hancock Health Prayer Spots” page for signing up for a time slot to pray is available at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c044da5aa2ea7fe3-hancock
“We have said many times we are preparing for the worst, but hoping and praying for the best,” Cox wrote. “These spots were just one more way to feel the power of prayer over us.”
