Numerous Prayer Events Planned for the General Assembly
As has been the case in the past, the Church of God International General Assembly (GA16), coming up on July 19-22 in Nashville, Tennessee, will not only be bathed in prayer, but there will be multiple ways delegates can participate in that prayer covering.
According to Doug Small, prayer coordinator for the Church of God, the entire week will offer on-going prayer events, centered around the establishment of a prayer room located in the Music City Center. Individuals are being recruited to be at the General Assembly just to pray. There will be prayer stations located throughout the convention center, including the exhibit hall.
Small announced special guest Carter Conlan will kick-off the prayer emphasis at GA16 during a special 9:00 a.m. seminar on prayer preceding the L.E.A.D. conference on Monday, July 18. Conlan, Senior Pastor of Times Square Church, joined the pastoral staff in 1994 at the invitation of founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed senior pastor in 2001. Pastor Carter’s shepherd’s heart is evident in the tender and compassionate way he leads the large congregation at Times Square Church.
In explaining the specifics of the prayer room, Small announced that it will be open all day (7:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.). The A.M. gathering time, called Morning Glory, will feature international church leaders with the kick-off being led by General Overseer Mark Williams, starting at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19. On Wednesday morning, special guest will be assistant general overseer J. David Stephens.
Starting at the noon hour from Tuesday through Friday will be a session called Manna, and will feature fasting and praying, as well as devotional time with international missionaries and administrative bishops. Scheduled to lead at Manna are Ken Anderson, Peter Thomas, Ishmael Charles, Otoniel Collins, David Ramirez, and Christ Swift.
“Prayer teams serving daily in the prayer room will do so for three-hour shifts and will be available to pray for needs, prayer requests, and to join others in prayer as they come to the prayer room or to simply direct those who want to spend an hour in prayer in prayer room resources,” Small said. “These individuals will be called ‘Watchmen,’ those who will watch throughout the day, ‘Watching the World’ in prayer.”
Small listed the activities taking place in the prayer room:
– Prayer stations around the perimeter of the room
– Spontaneous prayer groups
– Simultaneous prayer for the business sessions/services
– Children’s prayer hour starting at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday – Thursday
– Praying thru the tabernacle/10 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., mentoring/modeling prayer.
– A daily virtual prayer walk of the nation
– Praying the globe – daily prayer for missions
– Virtual video tour of the nations of the world and prayer points
– Power point tour of Unreached People Groups
– Wailing Wall – prayer for lost sons and daughters, loved ones
PrayerPoint stations, with prayer volunteers, will be giving the ‘gift of prayer’ throughout the Music City Center, Monday through Friday, as well as outside on the streets of Nashville. Prayer ambassadors will be touching key service providers in hotels and restaurants in the convention center, giving the gift of prayer (when invited and appropriate) and bearing gifts bags (while supplies last). There will also be a People of the Cross exhibit, and a prayer team that will be offering prayer and recruiting intercessors for Unreached People Groups and PrayerBorne chapters.
Prayer requests will be taken on-site and via phone (855-841-HOPE). Email prayer requests can be sent to [email protected]. Assembly delegates will be encouraged to use the Twitter hashtag #prayCOG throughout GA16. For more information about or to register for GA16 prayer events, visit www.praycog.org.
