Good business practices must be engaged, but must be immersed in prayer. Meeting without praying is like turning on an appliance that is not plugged into the electrical outlet. It takes the same effort to turn on the appliance, but the results are quite different. Electricity for the appliance is like the Holy Spirit for the Christian. Without the power there is no real action.
Praise is a mark of a parish.
Sometimes the word even has a negative connotation, for it may be claimed that some people only do certain tasks in order to be praised. Appropriate recognition is always a graceful act, but praising God is an essential act. When we look outside of ourselves and discover our absolute dependence upon God, we are moved to be grateful, and we are led to praise. It can be said that the absence of Praise in a church may be a result of the absence of gratitude. In many ways the Holy Eucharist includes all forms of prayer as defined in the Catechism in our Prayer Book on pages 856-857.