What Happens When Pastors Pray...Together

by Larry Lane

“Lord, you have hit my reset button again in regards to the priority of prayer in my schedule. The important things of praying and preaching the Word are again the very top of the list. I thank you for deepening the Lord among the brothers, and reminding me that we are all on the same team.”—Winchester, VA

“I have drawn closer to the Lord. I have stood on Holy Ground. I have been enlivened by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Body of Christ. This Prayer Summit has re-connected me to the source of my life and ministry. I have been renewed. I believe that we will never be the same again. Not only 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.

Their lives and Joe’s ministry would be forever changed.

As a result, God birthed a new ministry, Norwest Renewal

Ministries, and a movement that came to be known as pastors’ prayer summits, spread across the nation and globe. In an age of over-burdened schedules, pastors have had to become very judicious with their time, only leaving their flock for seminars and conferences sure to help them become more effective pastors and grow their churches.

Having served as a lead pastor in small and large churches, I remember well the flood of advertisements for conferences, seminars, and denominational gatherings that would challenge my limited time. The demands of the congregation always left me feeling like work was never completed.

If I would go to any conference, it had to be worth the investment. So why would I, or other pastors, subject ourselves and our schedules to three days with pastors we didn’t know (or at least not very well) and with some we didn’t like, to do heaven knows what?

That certainly was the sentiment of the sixty-five pastors that gathered at Lake Tahoe for our first summit in 1993. We might have been reluctant to attend, but God wasn’t. It changed our lives. We continued to have summits for the next twenty-five-plus years until I moved here to Cleveland, TN. We learned something in those days. Mary and Joseph lost the boy Jesus while attending temple worship, and we pastors, as well, can lose Jesus while doing church. Seeking the Lord and seeking the Lord together as leaders got

lost somewhere in our pursuit of ministerial success. We discovered that God was very interested in meeting with us, speaking to us, to melt our hearts and tear down our walls— if we just gave time and room to work. What began as an uncertain risk became an anticipated adventure.

On February 7-9, the pastors of Bradley County are getting away for their first prayer summit. Key pastors from various churches in Cleveland are sponsoring this event. I am asking you, the reader, to pray for this time. And if you attend a local church here in Bradley County, ask your pastor if he is attending. Email me and I can send you more information. God is going to meet with these pastors. If He touches them, it will impact your church and mine. And if our churches are impacted, it could transform our county.

About The Author 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.