What Does a CRCNA Prayer Shepherd Do?

Our Journey is the ministry plan of the CRCNA that was recently extended by Synod 2024. This plan is based on the needs and desires expressed by congregations and members, and focuses on four main goals or “Milestones” that we wish to work on together: 

1. Cultivating habits of prayer and spiritual practices

2. Listening to the voice of every generation

3. Growing in unity and diversity

4. Sharing the gospel

Foundational for all of this work, and for the work of being the church in general, is prayer. It is possible to do the work of the church, go through the motions, and check things off the list all on our own. But, when we do it this way, we do it under our own power and strength. Instead, Jesus invites us to be “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), be filled with the Spirit, and work through the power of the Spirit. 

When prayer becomes about our relationship with God, not a way to get what we want; when we recognize in prayer that we are to set aside ourselves and our desires, and instead pray “not my will, but yours be done”; when we pray that God will be glorified and not that our work will be successful or our ministries will grow; then our hearts are aligned with God so that we see God do only what God can do.

The work I do as Prayer Shepherd is focused on deepening our relationship with, and our dependence upon, the leading of the Spirit for the church. In this part time role, I carry this out in the following ways:

Prayer Coaching Cohorts 

For pastors, church staff, volunteers, CRC staff, and anyone interested, I offer prayer coaching cohorts to begin the journey of prayer, learning to discern the Spirit’s leading, and building a culture of prayer in their congregations. There are two cohorts in the spring and two in the fall, meeting 8 times over 16 weeks, to pray together, to personally grow, and learn ways to model that to those they lead and disciple. I still have some spots available in my Tuesday group if anyone is interested; More information can be found.

Synod

This part of my work keeps developing as we focus on being intentional about supporting synod through prayer. Here are some of the ways:

• 40 Days of Prayer before synod (here's the 40 Days of Prayer before synod for 2024).

• During synod - daily prayer guides used for the 30 Minute Prayer Vigil, Facebook prayer (here's the daily prayer guide from Synod 2024 and the guide for Synod 2023 and 2022).

• Congregational tools - Congregational Prayer Toolbox 

• At synod: Pre-Synod Prayer gathering, Thursday morning prayer walk, early morning daily prayer, prayer intercessors praying at synod 

Council of Delegates

• Building prayer support for COD meetings (sign up here if interested participating) through a Prayer Guide sent out 2 weeks prior to the meeting.

• Having prayer intercessors on location at the meeting

CRC Day of Prayer (March 13, 2025)

The CRC Day of Prayer will be March 13, 2025.  Keep your eye out for more information in March of 2025!

Praying Together

We learn to pray by praying. There are multiple prayer gatherings per month that I lead with CRC members, pastors, and CRC staff. 

Partner with CRC Ministries

Part of my work is to partner with the different ministries of the CRC. There are a few ways that is currently being done:

• Calvin University Board of Trustees - provide prayer support for BOT meetings as they meet 3 times a year.  (Sign up here if interested in participating.)

• Resonate - not surprisingly, churches that are growing through evangelism are praying for the Spirit to work in people’s hearts and lives. I’m partnering with Resonate to put prayer resources together for congregations.

We are on a journey learning to be more reliant upon the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer. I’m humbled to be a part of this work the Spirit is doing in us together.