You may have
heard about the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act.
The new federal law will limit medical information about individuals that
is made available to a parish or other community, in an effort to protect
personal privacy.
This means clergy and parishioners may not know if one of their members
is hospitalized. If that information is discovered, chances are no more
details will be made available, including diagnosis or condition.
What impact will this have on prayer lists?
Now, a lot of people can pray generally for someone without knowing exactly
why their prayers are needed; previously, a community could pray fervently
for a friend's specific problem.
In trying to discover what about this change in access to information
troubles me, I can only say that I find if I know the need of a person
for whom I pray, I better remember to offer prayers on his or her behalf.
But then I remind myself that God doesn’t require me to be specific —
God knows the need before I do and understands what I want to ask before
I can think it, much less say it.
What do you think? Send e-mail comments to editor@etdiocese.net
with “prayer” in the subject line.
— Sharon Rasmussen
Editorial
Policy
The East Tennessee Episcopalian welcomes articles and letters to the editor on topics of interest to the people of the Diocese of East Tennessee. Publication is subject to space constraints and editor’s approval. Submissions may be edited and/or excerpted and should include the writer’s name, e-mail address, home address, telephone and parish. If a reader should be directed to someone else for more information on the story topic, please provide that person’s name and telephone and let him or her know those details will be published.
Photographs: Whenever possible, photos should show people
doing something; activity is generally more interesting than a group portrait.
For a photo to be considered for publication, caption information must
accompany it: who, what, when, where and why. This also means anyone who
can be recognized in the photo should be named. Please also identify the
photographer so credit may be given. Photos should be sent as jpg files
attached to an e-mail message.
Articles: Like a picture, a story should answer who,
what, when, where and why. The best stories are ones you, the reader,
are interested in reading. They should identify the author and be e-mailed
within the body of a message or attached as Microsoft Word files to an
e-mail message.
Receipt via e-mail is highly preferred. Please send to editor@etdiocese.net.
Or you may mail material to arrive by the deadline to: Editor, East Tennessee
Episcopalian, 814 Episcopal School Way, Knoxville, Tenn., 37932.
