If you've found the prayers section of CHA's website a bit of a challenge to navigate in the past, check it out now. The section has been redesigned to make it more user-friendly and visually appealing.
At
chausa.org/prayers, CHA website visitors will find prayers organized by categories, and also can search for prayers by key word.
Prayer pages regularly rank among the most visited on the website, says Nick Osterholt, CHA editor of digital communications. But, he says, "The way we grouped prayers before, it didn't really match how they were used."
Now the prayers are organized into categories; for example, under "CHA Prayer Library" are subheadings that include "For Patients & Families," "For Meetings" and "Social Justice." "Calendar of Prayers" links prayers to holy days and events.
A more robust search function allows users to call up prayers using key words such as birth or mental illness. Osterholt says that feature was specifically requested by regular users of the page.
Carrie Meyer McGrath, CHA's director of mission services, says, "Users should be able to find everything with a click or two."
Meyer McGrath was among those who oversaw the revisions. She got input from other mission professionals, including Jim Schellman, vice president for mission integration at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, who provided advice as well as several new prayers for the site.
The devotions in the prayer library cover a wide sweep of topics, including addiction and natural disasters, and events, such as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and World Day of Social Justice.
Among the prayers that are consistently in demand are intercessions appropriate before a meeting or a surgery. A click on the "For Meetings" icon now brings up a wide selection.
The library has a quick link to CHA prayer cards. The cards can be downloaded or ordered as print materials.
Also highlighted are links to the Health Progress "Prayer Services," a feature that runs in every edition of the CHA journal, and another to "Video & Audio Reflections."
There are almost 500 prayers in the CHA online library and the collection continues to grow. Meyer McGrath says she welcomes submissions from members. She wants the library to continue to evolve to better meet users' needs. "It's a real-time resource that our members know is right there," she says.