PurposeA Call to Prayer for Revitalization. We encourage all churches to pray, even if you're not actively involved in the initiative. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Ecclesial Health12/14/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Ecclesial Health. Ecclesial health is the recognition that how we behave as a church matters as much as what we believe. Vital congregations are healthy congregations. They work through dysfunction, seeking to build healthy rather than toxic environments. For a church to have ecclesial health, they must come to a mutual understanding of: Why we are a church community? How are we a church community in practice? Answering these questions is a process permeated with prayer. Ecclesially healthy churches have clarity in their mission and core values. Their ministries are built on passion and joy in being the church. Their budgets reflect these values, vision and ministries. To that end, fiscally responsible stewardship and tithing are taught. Healthy churches are transparent in their spending and continually assess if their budgets are sustainable. Ecclesially healthy churches are open to change. All participants are aware of how decisions are made and are valued voices in the envisioning of the future. Healthy churches regularly reassess the “why” and “how” we are church together. And they do all of this while nurturing and supporting the health of the pastor(s), staff and all called to lead. Times of stress often reveal the cracks in the health of an organization. The pandemic is providing opportunities for churches to take a careful look at how they function and to take steps to function in healthier ways. The starting point for such assessment? Prayer that confesses the gaps in health and listens for God to clarify the “why” and “how” we are a church community together. Let us pray: Living God, we give you thanks and praise for the new things you are doing among us. Especially we thank you for our common ministry in Jesus’ name. Living God, by the gifts of your Spirit, help us to bear witness to the risen Lord by building up the body of Christ. Living God, in the great mystery of our faith receive us each night and revive us each day, that we may be dead to sin and alive to you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog
Caring Relationships12/7/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Caring Relationships.
Jesus tells us in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are disciples, if you have love for one another.” The quality of our relationships with one another in the church communicates to the world what we think about God. Additionally, “significant relationships with other Christians matter because they teach us something about what God is like— the One who can love us in spite of ourselves and who loves us passionately enough to suffer willingly on our behalf” (The Godbearing Life, Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster, p.27). How we care (or don’t care) for one another within the church matters. Vital congregations are known for their caring relationships. Sharing in God’s true agape moves us beyond half-hearted programmatic participation, lukewarm faith and pretending like everything is ok. Instead of a closed, judgmental community, people find freedom to share stories, encounter the Savior and ask for help. In vital congregations, welcome and hospitality are not left to a committee, but, imperfectly, we strive for all people to find identity, purpose and belonging in the household of God. This means that we do the hard work of confronting conflict when it arises. We seek reconciliation in all divisions, find ways to embrace all diversity, and strive to be peace-makers and bridge builders together. Churches have had ample opportunities and new challenges to develop caring relationships during the pandemic. People’s emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs have increased due to isolation, anxiety, and fear. Churches have rediscovered “old school” ways of communicating, such as organizing ruling elders or deacons to call church members on the phone on a regular basis or to send them cards. Clear Lake Presbyterian Church (CLPC) is a site for CarePartners’ The Gathering Place, a monthly meeting for dementia patients and their caregivers. The Gathering Place has not met since March, but the needs of those with dementia and their caregivers have only increased. The team of volunteers at CLPC sought creative ways to safely reach out to this population. This included the delivery of care packages for each family, complete with porch visits for caregivers who were comfortable with it. The care packages were well received, not only by the ones who got them but by the volunteers giving them. The initiative was so successful that one volunteer offered to lead the charge to deliver similar care packages to lonely or isolated church members. Through finding creative ways to reach out to the isolated, this church has continued to develop caring relationships during the pandemic. Let us pray: Living God, we give you thanks and praise for the new things you are doing among us. Especially we thank you for your great love for all the world. Living God, by the gifts of your Spirit, help us to bear witness to the risen Lord by extending your compassion to all. Living God, in the great mystery of our faith receive us each night and revive us each day, that we may be dead to sin and alive to you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen
Back to Blog
Spirit-Inspired Worship11/30/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Spirit-Filled Worship. Worship is about God. We come on holy ground, encounter God and experience wonder. Worship is active participation in the living relationship of the triune God, thus all should feel welcome just as they are to come. Worship challenges, teaches, transforms, encounters, convicts and sends people out changed. The worship of a vital congregation is Spirit-inspired. This does not necessarily mean that it is full of spirit (as in exciting or emotional) but rather that the Holy Spirit is present and leading the people into giving God glory. Spirit-inspired worship is not self-gratifying worship. It is not consuming an entertaining experience or a stale ritual divorced of meaning. Worshipping as a community of faith has become extra challenging during the pandemic. Churches struggle with the question, “Should we worship together in person? Is it safe? If we don’t worship in person, what do we do?” Many churches and church leaders have experimented with alternative ways of worshipping together, whether that’s “drive in church” (congregants stay in their cars and tune into a common FM radio signal to hear the service) or broadcasting a service on YouTube or Facebook Live or gathering the congregation together over Zoom. We have discovered that the Spirit can move across radio signals and internet cables, connecting us in ways we might have denigrated as less than ideal nine months ago. There are many ways to embody Spirit-inspired worship. To learn how one church has adapted to worshipping during the pandemic, visit https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/online-worship-is-not-a-show-that-you-consume/. Living God, we give you thanks and praise for the new things you are doing among us. Especially we thank you for the transforming presence of Christ. Living God, by the gifts of your Spirit, help us to bear witness to the risen Lord by proclaiming the good news of salvation. Living God, in the great mystery of our faith receive us each night and revive us each day, that we may be dead to sin and alive to you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Back to Blog
Empower Servant Leadership11/23/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Empower Servant Leadership. Whose job is it to help a church thrive? Is it the pastor’s job? Is it the responsibility of a few who have monopolized power? Vital congregations empower all in the congregation to lead in a servant fashion. Ephesians 4:11-12 says that God gave the various leaders of the community of faith (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) to equip the church for the work of ministry. Pastors are not called to do the work for the church, but to help the church do the work. Empowering servant leaders acknowledges that leading the church and doing the work of the church is not about holding power, it is about serving. Servant leaders not only serve the congregation, but ultimately Christ and Christ’s purposes in the world. In essence, this mark is about identifying, nurturing, and supporting the use of spiritual gifts of all people to serve. Congregations that empower servant leaders do not burn out their volunteers because they consistently seek to connect congregants with ways to serve that match their gifts. This mark acknowledges that all voices and people are important, and it is noticeable when people are absent or excluded from leadership. To read more about Presbyterian churches empowering young adults to lead, visit https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/vital-congregations-host-zoom-conversation-on-empowering-servant-leadership/. Let us pray: Living God, we give you thanks and praise for the new things you are doing among us. Especially we thank you for Jesus’ example of humble service. Living God, by the gifts of your Spirit, help us to bear witness to the risen Lord by loving and serving one another. Living God, in the great mystery of our faith receive us each night and revive us each day, that we may be dead to sin and alive to you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Back to Blog
Outward Incarnational Focus11/16/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Outward Incarnational Focus. What is our focus as a congregation? What drives us? For some, the focus is on inward institutional survival. We will do almost anything to keep our church open. But in our inward survival focus, we can lose track of what is happening in the world around us, and how our world needs a dose of good news from the church. Vital congregations have an outward focus. They are aware of their neighbors and surrounding neighborhoods – the needs and the hopes – and they seek to address those needs in tangible ways. Our outward focus is incarnational in that it is modeled after Christ. In Christ, God became human in order to teach us about God and to transform us and heal our world. Having an incarnational focus means that we get our hands dirty in service to the community. It also means that we look for Christ in places and people we don’t expect. For the incarnate Christ dwells among the lowly and least, the stranger and the suffering, the marginalized and the majority. Having an outward incarnational focus is attending to where Christ is already living and present and calling us to dwell. For an example of a church with an outward incarnational focus, please visit https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/pennsylvanias-nottingham-presbyterian-church-hosts-11th-annual-back-to-school-fair/. Surprisingly, when we begin focusing outward, we find that our communities broaden and expand in ways that benefit not only the community but the congregation. Being outward & incarnational is key to our life together as a church. Let us pray: Living God, we give you thanks and praise for the new things you are doing among us. Especially we thank you for the gift of your Word made flesh. Living God, by the gifts of your Spirit, help us to bear witness to the risen Lord by offering your grace to others. Living God, in the great mystery of our faith receive us each night and revive us each day, that we may be dead to sin and alive to you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Back to Blog
Authentic Intentional Evangelism11/9/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Authentic Intentional Evangelism. Evangelism is not a popular concept in some Presbyterian circles. The word itself and the images it conjures can make us downright uncomfortable. But at its core, evangelism is all about authentically sharing Christ with others because it is intrinsic to our self-identity. Evangelism is the result of the overflow of Christ in our life. It is not meant to be forced or a tool for manipulation. That said, evangelism must be done intentionally if it is going to lead us to revitalization. The church goes beyond acts of kindness or the pursuit of justice (albeit important on their own) by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are propelled to do good things because we have been shaped by the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. The church is not a social service agency. The gospel informs all that we do. Churches and individuals intentionally sharing the “why” of our actions is part of growing in vitality. So much of life has been turned upside down in 2020, whether by the pandemic, social unrest, or a vitriolic election. When COVID-19 first spread to the United States and many states shut down, actor John Krasinski posted YouTube videos entitled “Some Good News.” His homemade newscast was sincere in its desire to highlight what was good in the world, including the sacrifices made by first responders. These videos point to our hunger these days for good news. The question is, are we living in such a way that people see our lives and our message as good news? Let us pray: Living God, we give you thanks and praise for the new things you are doing among us. Especially we thank you for the good news of your holy realm. Living God, by the gifts of your Spirit, help us to bear witness to the risen Lord by sharing the hope that is within us. Living God, in the great mystery of our faith receive us each night and revive us each day, that we may be dead to sin and alive to you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Back to Blog
Lifelong Discipleship Formation11/2/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Lifelong Discipleship Formation. What is Lifelong Discipleship Formation? At the center of our faith is the decision to follow Jesus. Following Jesus has many facets, but two are worth noting. To follow Jesus is to recognize and receive the saving grace Jesus makes possible through his life, death and resurrection. Faith is more than an extracurricular activity or mere head knowledge. It impacts our hearts. To follow Jesus is also to model our lives after Jesus. So vital discipleship is awakened and engaged in issues facing today’s culture: injustice, inequality, divisive segregation, oppression, suffering, and abuse of creation. |