Prayer Summit Draws Broad Representation

The Christian Reformed Church called its first-ever denominational Prayer Summit for three days in April (16-18), with several hundred people participating—including denominational leaders, pastors, prayer leaders, intercessors, and representatives from every congregation. The call was to gather from across the nation to “humble themselves, and pray and seek His face . . .” (2 Chron. 7:14).

The Prayer Summit was hosted by the Korean Council at All Nations Church in Lakeview Terrace, CA. Each day began with “Dawn Prayer” at 6:00 a.m.—a Korean tradition of beginning the day in prayer. During the three days, several sessions included keynote speakers from both the United States and Korea. Each session incorporated 45–60 minutes of praying. The two evening sessions were designated as “Concerts of Prayer” that were led “Korean style.” In addition, ten workshops featured a wide variety of prayer-related subjects led by national prayer leaders. One required feature was that half of each workshop was to be spent in prayer.

Each general session was posted on the website immediately upon completion, and congregations were asked to encourage their members to gather on one of the evenings to “watch and pray.” Churches listened to the session and joined in prayer at their own locations. A special prayer guide was also available.

Going Forward

Two new denominational prayer initiatives were introduced at the Prayer Summit. A Call for Intercessors seeks to mobilize those who will pray an hour a week for the churches and agencies, leaders and members, and mission and ministries of the denomination. A Call to Churches encourages congregations to set aside one day each year to pray for 24 hours for the denomination’s ministries. The goal is to have at least one church covering each day of the year.

You can find out more about the prayer strategies of the Christian Reformed Church at crcna.org/pray.

DOUG KAMSTRA is the prayer and discipleship team leader for the Christian Reformed Church, and cochair of the Denominational Prayer Leaders Network.