Previously, I've summarized our first prayer service, which we held at the end of December last year. I mentioned that we were beginning plans for what we call an "Equipping Class" on prayer. Last Sunday, we held our first session of the 10-week class.
We had 20 people attend, which we were all thrilled with. Our Senior Pastor has mentioned the class a couple of times (including last Sunday) from the pulpit, and has provided a ton of support for us. We are studying Paul Miller's book, "A Praying Life."
We divided the class into about 45 minutes of teaching and then 45 minutes of group discussion. There was a lot of engagement, and people afterward expressed excitement about the upcoming installments. The class leaders will be meeting on Thursday to debrief, but I think the overall summary would be "God showed up!"
Interestingly, the class was divided roughly evenly between men and women, which has not been my experience in other churches relative to prayer. I think all but one of the participants was over 40 and most of us by a good number of years. Part of that may be that we're also running a parenting class at the same time, so younger adults with children were likely attending that.
I'll continue to post updates on the prayer class over the next few weeks. Other items we're currently working on are the creation of a prayer wall in the sanctuary, where people can post prayer requests (I've seen this in several churches), a training class for our small group leaders, and making prayer available after services. All of this is hopefully on the way toward becoming a house of prayer. God seems to be blessing our efforts so far!
Comments
Praise the Lord! Looking forward to more of your reports, Andrew.
Glad you are sharing this #reimagine-journey!