Turnaround Prayer

Grace and peace to each of you!  I pray that you are well and blessed as you continue your ministry in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

These are fascinating times for the church and its leadership.  We know that God is not through with us yet, but there are important transitions that each of us must make to restore the church’s relevance, spirit, and confidence as we journey into the second decade of the 21st Century.

Last fall each of our churches was asked to spend time in strategic discussions about their future.  Those conversations resulted in the establishment of S.M.A.R.T. goals and metric benchmarks for the next five years.  These remain important as we strive to grow our congregations in commitment to Christ and to everyone of God’s children.

I believe the fulfillment of those goals will require a revival of our spirit and a re-examination of how we do church.  Likewise, with the upcoming season of General, Annual, and Jurisdictional conferences, our church on all levels will be discerning the manner in which we move forward as a denomination.

The reason for this letter is to ask you and your congregation to commit to pray that, in all of this, God’s will might be done for the church that we love. 

If we are going to be faithful to the call God has placed on our lives, it is time to pray for a turnaround.  The future may look daunting, but the Holy Spirit at work around and within us can revive our spirit and our resolve to be the church of Jesus Christ.  That’s my prayer.  I invite it to be yours as well.

Below you can order a prayer card and a prayer tent describing the “The Turnaround Prayer Movement” of our Annual Conference.  We have set the goals.  We are looking at a future filled with important decisions.  It’s time to pray.

I invite you to order enough prayer cards and tents for each of your members.  Spend time describing the movement, organize specific times each week for prayer within your church, and invite every member/friend of your church to place these resources in a familiar place and commit themselves to daily on-going prayer for the church that we love. 

In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes, “. . . God, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, . . .” (3:20, NRSV)  This is our hope.  That God will work in and through us to transform our lives and our churches in ways that we do not know how to ask or imagine.

Join me, won’t you?  Let’s work hard but, as we do, let’s never forget to pray.

The Journey Continues,...