Healthcare Sunday (on Sunday 18 October this year) is an annual opportunity for churches to acknowledge, affirm and support the work done by members of your congregation and local community who work in health and social care. In your congregation you will almost certainly have doctors, nurses, care assistants, social workers, social care workers, occupational therapists, hospital administrators, porters, cleaners, ward secretaries, laboratory staff or chaplains, and people serving in many other roles.

In year where we have seen the vital work that health and social care staff have been doing in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, this is a great opportunity for us to celebrate their work and give thanks to God.

We will all need to use the health service at some point in our lives. Healthcare Sunday helps us to remember this and to give this invaluable work that affects us all back to the Lord in prayer and thanks.

Healthcare Sunday is usually held on the nearest Sunday to St Luke's day (18 October), but do feel free to celebrate it on any date that works best for your church.

The following resources may be of assistance:

• A PowerPoint presentation for your church to use on Healthcare Sunday
• A testimony about what it means to be a Christian doctor
• 'Three ways COVID-19 has changed me as a doctor'
• A brief flyer explaining why to hold a Healthcare Sunday in your church
• A seven-day guide to praying for Christian healthcare workers
• How to care for healthcare workers in your church family
• A prayer at the end of shift
• 'COVID-19: God in the gaps'
• An intensive care specialist talks about the toll of COVID-19 on health workers, but also of the unexpected ways God has been at work in a critical care unit [12 minute audio file / podcast]