Williams to Lead Saturday Night ‘Fire Call’
Church of God General Overseer Dr. Mark Williams will kick-off the return of the Saturday Night Fire Call, March 5, at 9 p.m. The calls were eclipsed by the January national prayer effort and are coordinated through the office of Prayer Ministries.
During January, the Church of God sponsored a nightly prayer call for 22 days and invited other denominations to join. Seven denominational leaders participated, inviting their constituents, along with dozens of national ministries. Dr. Alton Garrison, assistant superintendent of the Assemblies of God was on the call more than one night, as was Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist movement. Bishop Sam Clements, international leader for the Church of God of Prophecy, along with the North American Bishop Tim Coalter led a night of prayer. Bishop Doug Beacham of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church provided leadership, and Dr. Lou Shirey, the prayer coordinator of that denomination led multiple nights of afterglows. Kay Horner of the Center for Spiritual Renewal and Cry Out American was involved in providing leadership for the call. Southern Baptist leader Claude King co-hosted the calls.
P. Douglas Small, Church of God Prayer Coordinator, noted, “The breadth of the participation was extraordinary, some called it unprecedented. And in opening the call to other denominations and movements we fulfilled a part of our own destiny, to be ‘the Christian Union,’ a bridge that unites denominations for spiritual renewal and apostolic mission.” Small noted that the Saturday night fire call will be open to all, to anyone wanting to see revival in the church and awakening in the culture, but the call will be especially focused on prayer for the 6500 congregations in North America and the almost 40,000 congregations around the world.
The calls begin this Saturday and will continue each Saturday night at 9 p.m., EST. The number by which you join the prayer call is 641-715-3580. Callers will be asked to enter an access code, 466086#. Each night, there are moments, Small says, of open-line-prayer in which everyone can participate. The call lasts for one hour. Special guests will join the call from time to time after the inaugural call with Dr. Williams. Special themes are also occasionally introduced and prayer items, especially those related to revival and awakening are noted. “This is so easy. From the comfort of one’s home, anyone can call in – and listen. Mute their phone and cry out to God with other believers who have white hot hearts,” noted Small. After the call last year, Small observed, many churches are now conducting their own prayer calls. The level of prayer is rising. The Saturday night prayer call is not an attempt to replace any of those efforts to provide the opportunity for the entire denomination to connect and pray for fresh fire in Church of God pulpits and on our altars on Sunday morning.
Dr. Williams declared, “Prayer is our vital breath. We are a movement that was birthed in prayer, and without deep dependence upon God, expressed in prayer, we will not see the city-shaking revivals that marked early Pentecostal history.”
