Covenant News

Prayer is Key to Renewal for Nebraska Church

MEAD, NE (March 26, 2001) - Mead Evangelical Covenant Church in Nebraska has witnessed the power of prayer in recent months as it seeks to pray for 20,000 households in an area surrounding the church, as well as its own church leadership.

Incorporating concepts from a book by John Maxwell called Partners in Prayer: Support and Strengthen Your Pastor and Church Leaders, Pastor Lyle Person challenged parishioners to pray for guidance, strength and unity for church leadership. Two prayer teams have emerged, said Person. One group prays specifically for church leaders and another focuses primarily on a list of 1,000 people the church identified after a prayer training session last fall.

The results have been encouraging, both inside and outside the church, according to church leaders. Attendance at the church has increased 40 percent during the past six months, to an average of 175, and people are encouraged by how God has worked in the lives of those for whom they have been praying.

"I've been impressed by the people's commitment to pray," said church chair Roger Nelson. "And the stories that have come back are answers to prayer. It's important because it re-energizes people. Within the last three or four months we've seen a renewed enthusiasm and a renewed joy in the church."

Mead is a community of 500 located 25 miles west of Omaha. Housing developments continue to spring up near the church, causing members of the congregation to ask how they can influence their community and areas beyond.

"When I came about 15 months ago, they had a long-range planning committee, but they weren't active," the pastor said. "I thought it was important to think about the future and I asked them to help me find out where they wanted to go," he said in describing how the prayer teams were launched. "We used that as a 'think tank' for the church and got some people who were forward-thinking and we started praying."

Ten months ago, the church had a "Day to Dream," which gave the congregation an opportunity to define its mission field and pray for specific ways to impact its community. Person said the well-known "Lighthouses of Prayer" concept of identifying households to pray for was embraced and (using local phone directories) a list of 1,000 people was constructed upon which the outreach prayer team could focus.

The prayer teams have prayed specifically for four areas:

• For local families and homes (marriages, physical/emotional healing, salvation)
• For churches and pastors (spiritual renewal, unity, individual needs)
• For businesses that might be antagonistic toward spiritual renewal
• For positive institutions (hospitals, schools, etc.) that they might have renewed vision to care for people

Person communicates to the prayer groups regularly by email. Quarterly breakfasts help keep people updated and provide a unifying element. He has appreciated the enthusiasm of his congregation throughout the recent prayer process and has been encouraged by how God has led people to the church.

"We had some people just show up," Person said. "They told us they hadn't been to any church in six years and felt God was drawing them back to the church. I don't think those things are accidents - I think God is prompting us to make a difference."

Youth ministry at the church also has benefited greatly from the prayer process. The church prayed for discernment in hiring a full-time youth pastor last fall - Dane Anderson joined the ministry in January. Nelson says the church has seen a dramatic increase in the size of the youth group.

The church is considering building a multipurpose gym, senior adult housing for the community and a daycare center. The church also will pursue a more formal demographic study of the area to identify future needs.

For more information on Mead Evangelical Covenant Church and its recent prayer emphasis, call 402-624-6125.

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