Gò0dNews for Everyone What Happens When Pastors Pray…Together by Larry Lane
“L
ord, you have hit my reset button again in regards to
didn’t know (or at least not very well) and with some we
the priority of prayer in my schedule. The important
didn’t like, to do heaven knows what?
things of praying and preaching the Word are again
That certainly was the sentiment of the sixty-five pastors
the very top of the list. I thank you for deepening the Lord among
that gathered at Lake Tahoe for our first summit in 1993.
the brothers, and reminding me that we are all on the same
We might have been reluctant to attend, but God wasn’t. It
team.”—Winchester, VA
changed our lives. We continued to have summits for the
“I have drawn closer to the Lord. I have stood on Holy
next twenty-five-plus years until I moved here to Cleveland,
Ground. I have been enlivened by the power of the Holy Spirit
TN. We learned something in those days. Mary and Joseph
working through the Body of Christ. This Prayer Summit has
lost the boy Jesus while attending temple worship, and we
re-connected me to the source of my life and ministry. I have been
pastors, as well, can lose Jesus while doing church. Seeking
renewed. I believe that we will never be the same again. Not only
the Lord and seeking the Lord together as leaders got
have I been empowered, but the Church, the Body of Christ, in the Northwest has been empowered. How awesome it is to know that I am not doing this alone!”—NW American Baptist Over thirty years ago, Joe Aldrich, then president of Multnomah Bible College, had an intriguing thought: What would happen if pastors from their city, but from different churches, got away and spent time seeking the Lord with no agenda? First, would any pastor make time to try such a crazy thing, and would God do anything if we left the agenda to Him? Joe used his favor and influence and pastors from Portland, Oregon, did just that for four days.
lost somewhere in our pursuit of ministerial success. We
Their lives and Joe’s ministry would be forever changed.
discovered that God was very interested in meeting with us,
As a result, God birthed a new ministry, Norwest Renewal
speaking to us, to melt our hearts and tear down our walls—
Ministries, and a movement that came to be known as
if we just gave time and room to work. What began as an
pastors’ prayer summits, spread across the nation and globe.
uncertain risk became an anticipated adventure.
In an age of over-burdened schedules, pastors have
On February 7-9, the pastors of Bradley County are
had to become very judicious with their time, only leaving
getting away for their first prayer summit. Key pastors from
their flock for seminars and conferences sure to help them
various churches in Cleveland are sponsoring this event.
become more effective pastors and grow their churches.
I am asking you, the reader, to pray for this time. And if
Having served as a lead pastor in small and large churches,
you attend a local church here in Bradley County, ask your
I remember well the flood of advertisements for conferences,
pastor if he is attending. Email me and I can send you more
seminars, and denominational gatherings that would
information. God is going to meet with these pastors. If He
challenge my limited time. The demands of the congregation
touches them, it will impact your church and mine. And if
always left me feeling like work was never completed.
our churches are impacted, it could transform our county.
investment. So why would I, or other pastors, subject ourselves and our schedules to three days with pastors we
38 // January 2022
About The Author
If I would go to any conference, it had to be worth the Larry Lane is the CEO of the Sentinel Group, producer of award-winning Christian documentaries. He moved to Cleveland with his wife Carol in May of 2020. You can reach Larry at larry@kingdomc.org.
