HIPAA and Prayer requests

When I went to college, I went to a church that took prayer requests from the congregation. It was so fresh and new 20 years ago that I it was one of the things that kept me there. People cared for one another, we were building a community.

Now it is 20 years later and I feel that freshness is now stale and there needs to be change for two important reasons.

1.) Prayer Requests have devoided into what is ailing you or a family member. As congregations get older the concerns about cataracts and cancer rise. Not that we should not pray for these, but I am not sure that Jesus or his Disciples had these prayers.
2.) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), has as part of the law privacy issues. Meaning that doctors and medical staff can only pass information along to certain members of the family. As clergy, I am having to overhear conversations. In my first years in ministry, nurses and doctors would share with me. There has been a tide change.

This tide change has changed the culture of medical issues. Meaning that when the congregation shares about somebody ailments they are not reflecting the norms of culture. Now, there are times to conform to culture and not to conform. We conform in use of governance, music, and programs. We also need to conform in this way, because this deals with people's issues of privacy. I remember one person being irate with me that I prayed for his upcoming surgery publicly. His feelings were deeply hurt. This was a rare occurrence, but I see on the horizon where this will be the norm. Will the church and its leadership be naive and ask, "Are we not family?" The answer is "No, we are church."