Church of God Prayer Ministries Offers Training Event
Church of God Prayer Ministries is offering a two-day Prayer Trainer’s Certification training event in Kannapolis, NC, May 26-27. The event begins on Tuesday, May 26, at 1:30 PM and ends at 4 PM the following day. The special training is a part of the Prayer Leader’s Continuing Education program (PLCE), a 43 month process aimed at coming alongside local church pastors and prayer leaders with resources and encouragement in the effort to transform their congregations into houses of prayer.
Doug Small says, “We have had the large prayer training conferences, and they were helpful. But what is most needed is grass-roots, ongoing, training that brings incremental change to the culture of our congregations.” The unique quarterly education process involves meetings of multiple congregations – even across denominational lines to consider how they might bring prayer to the heart of all they do! Each quarterly 2-hour and 15 minute session is designed to focus on teaching-training via video and discussion guides, helpful principles of prayer and prayer leadership, then fresh practical tools and resources, and a talk-it-over and take-it-home segment. This is the newest resource for the Praying Church Movement, a group of Church of God congregations who self-identify with a desire to bring prayer to the heart of all they do.
“There is no other program like this that is available. This is unique – and it is an offering of the Church of God,” Small says. Last year, there was a pre-release of the materials for review and feedback. “Already, a number of other denominations have begun to use the materials.” He contends, “Principles alone are inadequate – you need prayer tools and resources. Each quarter new prayer tools will be introduced, plug-and-pray resources that are quickly adaptable.” The most important part of the session, he contends, may be the most underrated – that time when pastors and prayer leaders of various congregations share with another, “This is what we did, and this is what seems to be helping our people.” In this unique training, principles, resources and application come together.
The training in May is for church leaders who want to move their congregational prayer effort forward as well as state and regional leaders who want to unwrap such a process in their state. Small says that the training can be implemented top-down with the support of a denominational office or bottom-up, a local congregation implementing the training alone or with others. It could be a means of uniting churches across denominational lines in a city.
There is no charge for the two-day training, but pre-registration is required. Contact [email protected] for more information. Or call the Church of God Prayer Coordinator’s Office, 704-938-9111.
