Joe's Blog for Week 2

In Chapter 2 of Unbinding Your Heart, Martha Reese points out that many of our congregations have been going south (i.e., losing numbers) for decades. “It will take a miracle,” she points out, “to turn things around.” So this chapter is on prayer. Why not? What do we have to lose by turning the whole thing over to God to see how God will guide us?

To bolster her position that this is a good idea, she tells three stories, about three different denominations. The first is about a Disciples of Christ Church, mid-western, healthy, moderate to “fairly progressive” in theology. They formed an evangelism team and asked Martha what to do. She told them to spend three months praying together before they did anything else.

They were skeptical, but they did it. They prayed individually every day and together at least once a week. By the end, their three-member committee had grown to 50, then 65. Visitors and baptisms were increasing. People were following up, baking bread, buying small gifts, starting a welcome center. A year later, they had 80 new members.

The second story reports on a Reformed Church in America in California. It, too, was growing and had a vibrant “life stage ministry” for 20 to 30-year olds. They have two contemporary worship services and one traditional each week. They use music and small groups as a way of reaching out to the young “postmoderns.” The pastor’s wife was trained in prayer in a week-long event in cooperation with a Moravian church, and prayer is central to what they do. One group prays for each worship service. They have “prayer walkers” whose role is to pray as they walk through events such as Halloween parties and Vacation Bible School. They pray for the people, the children, everyone.

And the third story is about a very small town and a very small church (125 in worship). The heart of the story centers on the four pastors in the town who used to be in competition for members until they started meeting for a two-hour prayer session each week. Not only is the competition gone, but one of them has partnered with a Catholic mission to El Salvador and a congregant had the courage to ask the whole congregation to support a simple but effective water purification initiative for that country. And there were other positive results of their prayerful meetings.

Reese says the point of these stories is that all of these successes start with a relationship with God, and the way to become conscious of and deepen that relationship, is through prayer. And so she ends the chapter with five statements about prayer, and with Jesus’s promise in Matthew 18:19: “If two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my father in heaven.”

In connection with this study, nearly our whole congregation is praying the same prayers every day, and are meeting to pray once a week in their small groups. Shut-ins, college students, people who can’t come, are also praying. Prayer cards are now available in each pew so we can record what we want others to pray about. As you leave the sanctuary, you will see a beautiful prayer wall. It reminds me of that other wall in Jerusalem, where some years ago, I rolled up my prayer note and stuck it in a crack. I don’t remember what it said, but I’m sure God does.

Joe’s Blog on the E-vent

At Heights Christian Church, we're into the first week of a six-week experience in prayer and study. About 76 people have signed up to be part of one of seven small groups that will be meeting once a week.  One group meets on Tuesday afternoons and one on Thursday nights.  the rest meet on Sunday during the second hour time.  The first meeting for the Sunday groups will be on October 19.

Some people, of course, feel unable to be a part of one of these small groups, and it's for you that I am writing.  For many of you, lack of time may be the reason, so I promise to keep this short. But we don't want you to feel left out or not a part of this church-wide experience in some way.  Some of you have health reasons or distance reasons.  So here's an attempt to fill you in on what's happening so far:

Prayer is a huge part of this event.  There are nine people in a prayer team who are praying for all of us by name every day.  There are now prayer cards in the pews that you can write a request on.  There are three "prayer walls" on which these requests will be attached.  Or you can attach your own.  We will all be praying for each other and for our church. [You don't need to be in a group to fill out a prayer card].  In addition, about half of each small group meeting will be devoted to discussing prayer or actually praying.  A major focus of our prayer is praying for each other.

Everybody has gotten a book called Unbinding Your Heart.  Even if you haven't signed up for a small group, it would be great to read along in this book.  Ask Rev. Roger for one.  We read one chapter a week.  Everyone is committed to working through the prayer part of the book on pp. 119ff.  There's one reflection a day for six weeks.  Would you have time to join us in that?

The second huge part of this E-vent is sharing our faith.  In order to share it, we have to think about what it is, get comfortable about it, and 'practice' talking about it.  The meetings, prayers, and chapters help us to do that.  The introduction and first chapter point out the great reluctance most of us have about sharing our faith, or even talking about "Evangelism."  The author, Martha Grace Reese, emphasizes that this is NOT about changing other people's beliefs or accosting strangers.  It's more about being more comfortable sharing what is really important to us.

In her study of 150 successful mainline churches, she found what works in them for growth and vitality, and that seems to be the result of prayer (and being open to the Spirit's leading) and their own style of faith sharing.  Much of this is still awkward and uncomfortable, but we've just begun and are determined to see it through!  Our shut-ins and some of our college students and relatives who have moved away, are contributing their prayers to our efforts.  We hope and know that you will too.

- Joe LaGuardia