All Nations Pastor Invites CRC to Pray

Pastor Tae Kim, one of the pastors at All Nations Church, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) congregation hosting the CRC’s inuagural Prayer Summit, is asking people across the denomination to come and pray with him, members of his church and many others on April 16-18.

In a short new video, the pastor says his church is thrilled, excited and honored to be the site for the Prayer Summit. The Summit was initiated by a group of Korean Christian Reformed churches.

In the video, Pastor Tae Kim stands during a weekday in the large, empty sanctuary of All Nations Church and invites people to “fill this place with prayers and praises for his (God’s) glory.”

The pastor also says that the Prayer Summit will be an occasion on which people can pray together “and expect great things from God.”

The deadline for early registration for the Summit is March 31. Those who register by this Saturday will receive lower rates.

Others who are also helping to coordinate the Prayer Summit say that the gathering will include speakers who will provide information on grassroots movements of prayer, Trinitarian prayer, and the redemptive scope of prayer.

Prayers of gratitude and prayers for everyday circumstances, along with prayer concerts, will also be featured.

While several topics and themes will be addressed and concerts will occur, the central focus for the Prayer Summit is -- as Pastor Tae Kim says in the video -- for attendees to come together for prayer, says Rev. Moses Chung, director of Christian Reformed Home Missions and one of the Summit coordinators.

Various events and opportunities will also take place for people and churches that are unable to attend the Summit to pray for the CRCNA and its ministries.

The Korean Council of Christian Reformed Churches came up with the idea of the Summit, as a way to celebrate their long and fruitful connection with the CRC and as a way to focus attention on the central role prayer plays in the CRC and in other churches as well.

As of early this week, more than 340 people have registered or are expected to register for the Prayer Summit.

But as the March 31 deadline approaches, Rev. Joel Boot, executive director of the CRCNA and another coordinator for the Summit, also says in a video that he hopes and prays that many members of the CRC will be able to find a way to be able to attend the Prayer Summit.

Traveling many miles and then gathering for prayer in All Nations Church in the Los Angeles area is going to be a powerful testimony to the deep faith that many people in the denomination share.

Just as significant, says Boot, is that the Summit will be -- and already is -- a testimony to the importance people in the CRCNA place on prayer.

“One of the primary responsibilities of all God’s people have is to pray and to pray to him (God),” says Boot.

There is a practical element to prayer and especially praying together. Prayer is “a way to enrich our own lives and our corporate lives,” says Boot.

Prayer is also an opportunity to commune with God, seeking his guidance and direction as well as asking God to bless all aspects of, and all of the people in, one’s life, says Boot.

Chung says he would also love to have as many people as possible to gather at the Prayer Summit.

This will be a chance to show the world and one another how the power of prayer is central to the Christian faith and can transcend all divisions and differences, he says.

“Many of the leaders of the Christian Reformed Church will be there,” he says. “All of the nations that make up the CRC’s body will be there.”

Both Boot and Chung point out that an array of speakers will address the topics. In the first session, for instance, John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, will be speaking on prayer being both expressive and formative.

“As we pray today, we are called by scripture to express all our experiences before God’s face. But we are also challenged to pray in a formative way, building our capacity to pray,” says information on this session.

Trinitarian Prayer will also be the subject of a session. “When we turn toward God in prayer, the Bible calls us then not to think that God is far from us, or that our prayers must bridge a great chasm.

“Rather, when we turn toward God in prayer, we come to realize that our very desire to pray is a gift given by the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus’ perfect mediation is all the power needed to bring our deepest hopes and fears before God,” says information for this session.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., will speak about prayer and the significant role it plays in the scope of redemptive activity. For instance, says a description of this session:

“In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus challenges us to pray ‘your kingdom come, your will be done.’ That is a short prayer with an almost unimaginable scope. Historical records over 2000 years repeatedly show Christians rediscovering the breadth of this kind of prayer.”

A view of the Holy Spirit’s role in prayer, grassroots revivals of prayer in Korea and elsewhere, prayer in everyday life circumstances, and prayers of gratitude will also be discussed by speakers.

Besides Witvliet and Mouw, some of the other presenters will be:

• Pildo Joung, the founding and senior pastor emeritus of Sooyoungro Presbyterian Church in Busan, Korea where over 30,000 people gather to worship weekly. Sooyoungro Church is well-known for its dynamic and innovative prayer and evangelism ministries and how it has helped to spark, with God’s grace, a city-wide gospel movement.
• Douglas Kamstra, prayer and discipleship team leader for Christian Reformed Home Missions. Kamstra is the author of "The Praying Church Idea Book," co-chair of the Denominational Prayer Leaders' Network, a trained spiritual director, a leader in the CRHM’s Deeper Journey, itself a movement of prayer and renewal for church leaders, and a frequent retreat and seminar speaker.
• Phil Reinders, senior pastor of Knox Presbyterian in downtown Toronto, Ontario, is the author of the prayer book Seeking God's Face: Praying With Scripture Through the Year and he writes blogs at squinch.net.
• Jin So Yoo is the founding and senior pastor of All Nations Christian Reformed Church, the large congregation that is hosting the Prayer Summit. This is a church that has placed a large emphasis on prayer.
• Alvin J. Vander Griend, a CRCNA minister and prayer evangelism associate for Harvest Prayer Ministries in Terre Haute, Ind., a position which allows him to continue his long-time writing and teaching on prayer.