“The prayer group has been a crucial way for me to stay connected to fellow Christians and strengthen my relationship with God.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

The challenges of this past year are obvious, but they have also inspired a new zeal that is propelling the Kingdom forward. One example is a prayer group at Welch LLP, an accounting firm with a large presence in Ottawa.

“We have 10 people, usually five or six show up. We used to do prayer twice a month,” says Garth Steele, a partner at Welch. “When COVID hit, I felt we needed to up that. We started doing it with Zoom twice a week and we are getting more people online than we were in person.”

Group members pray for each other, the company, any employee needs, and that God’s kingdom would advance through the business. One area Steele sees clear growth is the group’s boldness.

“People feel more comfortable when they understand they are not the only Christian in the workplace.” He explains that participating “has made people bolder about sharing their faith. When they see a staff member or client struggling with a personal issue, they’ll ask if they can pray for them. We tended not to have done that before.”

“How come nobody ever told me about this before?”

Those offers of prayer became an important support, as colleagues (including two members of the group) were furloughed or laid off, but also for colleagues facing other challenges.

“We have seen a lot of people lose loved ones [unrelated to COVID]. When these things happen during this time, it’s so tough. How do you reach out and express sympathy to someone when you can’t see them or give them a hug? But we’ve been praying for people at work who have lost loved ones.”

The increased boldness also spurred Steele to invite 10 colleagues to an online Alpha experience his church (Manotick Community Church) was hosting. Although many colleagues declined his invitation, one lady, Jen Murray, decided to try it out.

“She came and has turned her life over to Christ. She was not engaged with Jesus at all before. She asked, ‘How come nobody ever told me about this?’ To be able to reach out like that at work, and see this impact, it’s unbelievable. It was because of the prayer group I felt called to reach out to people at work.”

The group has been an important resource as Murray grows in faith.

“I am so grateful for the impact we are making in each other’s lives, praying for our coworkers, city, families, and simply putting God first.”

“As someone who recently committed their life to Christ, it has been hard to not be able to attend church,” she says. “Being able to pray together twice a week has been such a light and blessing during these strange times. The prayer group has been a crucial way for me to stay connected to fellow Christians and strengthen my relationship with God, while providing the same warm energy that would come from a church community.”

The group has been a source of strength to all members. In fact, a work prayer group is something Abie Konneh specifically asked God for when she applied to Welch. Shortly after she started, a colleague took note of her faith and invited her to the group.

“I couldn’t believe my ears. I prayed the entire ride home from work, just being grateful,” she says. “This prayer group has helped me so much. I am so grateful for the impact we are making in each other’s lives, praying for our coworkers, city, families, and simply putting God first.”

Steele has also been encouraged seeing Welch finding ways to support the community. One employee suggested a creative way to use the money usually designated for networking lunches. On that employee’s initiative, Welch has purchased 1,000 meals from local restaurants and provided them to staff at the Civic Hospital and other facilities.

A Welch staff member delivers meals to staff at The Ottawa Mission.

Colleagues also donated hundreds of dollars in support of The Ottawa Mission, on the initiative of Steele’s daughter Hannah, who also works at Welch.

Steele points to one positive side of the closures: they caused many people to re-evaluate priorities.

“What it has done for Christians is help us understand that [the Kingdom] is the priority. Being a Christian is about loving our neighbour, especially during COVID when people need love more than ever.”