Faithbridge United Methodist Church in Spring, Texas, was begun in the fall of 1998 as a group of six individuals gathered for the first time in the apartment of the founding pastor, Ken Werlein. From those small beginnings, Faithbridge has experienced tremendous growth in a number of areas. In 2002, average attendance was 110; and 62 people were baptized into the Christian faith. In 2003, ministry was carried out through eighty small groups, and the church operated with eighteen paid staff. A 2.5 million dollar purchase of 74 acres is projected to be paid off in soon. The church hopes to hold Easter services in the new sanctuary in the spring of 2006. Church growth experts offer any number of reasons explaining the rapid growth; however, Ken Werlein points to one primary factor: prayer.

From the beginning, prayer has been the focal point of life and ministry at Faithbridge Church. When setting out to plant a church, Ken Werlein sought the counsel of fellow church planter, Jim Leggett, about how to proceed. Leggett advised him to build the church on prayer, and Werlein says it is the best advice he has ever received. Not only was the church planted on a foundation of prayer, but it continues to grow and develop as a praying congregation. How has Faithbridge accomplished this? What are the transferable concepts that any church plant can use? The following paragraphs reveal some transferable truths that the Faithbridge community has learned and practiced regarding the role of prayer in church planting.

It Begins with the Pastor
The pastor must be a person of prayer. Strong preaching on prayer and insightful teaching about prayer are no substitutes for a life of prayer. Leaders set the tone for any organization, including the church. If the senior pastor is not committed to the ongoing, consistent practice of prayer, the rest of the church cannot be expected to cultivate a strong commitment to pray. Faithbridge likes to refer to itself as a "house of prayer." Part of the reason it can do so truthfully is that the senior pastor is a person who prays.

A full six months before Faithbridge was begun, the Lord impressed upon Ken Werlein's heart the importance of his own prayer life. While traveling in South Korea, studying the largest churches in the world, Werlein was struck by the Korean Christians' fierce devotion to prayer. His journal entry of March 17, 1998, reads:

Lord, I am convicted of my prayerlessness. I give more a tip of the hat to prayer than an earnest, prioritized, blood-sweating commitment to it. I do all the work, and you let me. I then carry all the burdens, and you let me. But you offer more. And I want to enlist myself now for more. I want to become a pastor, husband, father, and friend who prays so fervently, so deliberately that others know me for and associate me with my prayer life. That's a good vision, isn't it, Lord?

I am tired (not lacking in gratitude, though) of being noted for my musical or preaching talent, or for my love or warmth. But it's time now to become Ken Werlein — man of prayer. Thank you that I do not have to fear comparison with others any longer — my prayers are adequate, my experience sufficient.

Since that time, Werlein has remained true to his commitment. His regular practice is to pray daily during a morning quiet time and all throughout the day as various needs or issues arise. During a churchwide spiritual growth campaign, Werlein felt led to set aside Thursday afternoons from 2:00-6:00 p.m. for prayer. This is a practice he has continued since the close of the campaign, and he has made it a part of his regular weekly schedule.

Build Prayer into the DNA of the Church

The church must be and understand itself to be a house of prayer, a place where prayer is practiced and modeled in staff meetings, leadership meetings, and so on. At Faithbridge, this was accomplished in two ways. First, even before Faithbridge was born, Werlein had recruited one hundred "prayer warriors" from all around the country to pray for him and the new church. He communicated with these "warriors" on a weekly basis via e-mail, keeping them updated with needs and the progress of the new church. The gestation period of the church was a concentrated season of prayer.

The seven-member launch team agreed that every decision related to the new church would be made in prayer. Werlein impressed upon these pioneers that prayer was absolutely essential to the healthy development of the church. He cast a strong and consistent vision of prayer as the engine that would drive the church. The launch team caught his vision and began to grow in their personal prayer lives as well.

As a result of these efforts, prayer is the number one core value at Faithbridge. Werlein says, "Every person walking through the door, every staff member, every dollar we've raised started as a prayer request." This initial and ongoing emphasis on prayer has set a tone at Faithbridge that keeps the church focused on the centrality of prayer. By doing so from the very beginning, prayer is now inextricably woven into the fabric or DNA of Faithbridge.

Provide Prayer Opportunities
If the congregation is to move from a vision of prayer to the actual ongoing practice of prayer, one of the keys will be the provision of multiple opportunities to pray. Church plants tend to attract pre-Christian people, and the conversion rate is typically higher in church plant situations than in existing churches. As a result, church plants have a higher percentage of new Christians. These people must be taught to pray, and the most effective way to do so is by providing opportunities to pray. As a result, Faithbridge is continually looking for new prayer ministries to implement.

The key to enlisting larger numbers of prayers is to vary the nature of the opportunities. Many new Christians carry stereotypical notions of what prayer is all about and need to be exposed to a range of prayer ministries. Prayer ministry must not be limited to the traditional Wednesday night prayer meeting, but instead expanded to meet various needs within the life of the church and community.

As of this writing, Faithbridge has twelve different prayer ministries in operation. Each of the twelve can be divided into two categories: those focused on the ministry of Faithbridge Church and those focused on the community and world at large.

Those focused on the ministry of Faithbridge include:

1. The Prayer Gathering meets once a week as a group to pray through the prayer requests of the congregation. (Requests are gathered during worship services on Connect Cards.)
2. The Prayer Covering Team prays during the Sunday worship services in a separate room to cover the services with prayer.
3. The Prayer Chain prays for immediate needs that come in over the prayer line. The prayer line is monitored hourly throughout the day, and needs are also communicated to the team via e-mail.
4. The Anointing Team members bless and anoint chairs, building, and facilities before church services.
5. The Altar Team prays with same-sex individuals in designated areas during the altar time of each weekly service. Team members are trained for this ministry.
6. The Pastor's Prayer Team commits to pray weekly for the senior pastor as he communicates needs and concerns via e-mail.
7. The School of Prayer is offered twice a year. Classes on the practice of prayer range from the basics to deeper experiences.
8. The Celebrate Recovery Prayer Team prays weekly for the recovery ministry of our church and for those struggling to break free from addictions.

Those focused on the community and world at large include:

9. The Prayer Center. Participants pray in the prayer center (located in the church office) for one hour per week on a regular schedule.
10. The Pager Prayer Ministry. Participants pray for those who are chronically or terminally ill. Each time a team member prays, he or she calls the pager number; and all pagers ring to let suffering people know they are being lifted up in prayer.
11. Prayer for the City. This group meets once a month to pray for Houston — specifically for the lost and for a Kingdom influence among the churches.
12. Reach Prayer Team. Members pray weekly for the missions and evangelism ministry of Faithbridge.

Through these kinds of opportunities, Faithbridge is casting an ever wider vision for prayer and expanding the prayer base of the church.

Continually Cast the Vision
If a church plant is going to experience a vital prayer ministry for the long term, the vision must be cast on a continual basis. Perhaps even more so than other ministries, prayer ministry experiences an ever-present resistance and sense of inertia to overcome. Therefore, the importance and central role of prayer must be placed before the congregation at regular intervals. The core value of prayer is promoted at Faithbridge in a number of different ways.

Prayer ministry receives its greatest promotion each spring when Faithbridge hosts its annual Prayer Conference. This event is a two-day experience, during which a noted leader in the area of prayer provides fresh teaching, inspiration, and insight. During its history, Faithbridge has watched the conference grow from eleven participants to more than 250. Upcoming conferences will include a plenary speaker and break-out sessions on various aspects of prayer.

Faithbridge also holds three or four seasons of fasting and prayer each calendar year. Typically, these seasons last forty days; and the entire congregation is encouraged to fast and pray one day per week during the season. The season is usually associated with a goal or an undertaking that requires focused prayer attention. For example, in 2001 the congregation prayed and fasted for forty days while deciding whether to purchase a particular piece of land. Participation is voluntary, and suggested prayer items are provided for each of the forty days.

A third means of vision casting takes place through preaching and teaching. Each year, Werlein devotes sermon time to the topic of prayer. He does so through a sermon series that is devoted to prayer or through individual sermons that refer to the importance of prayer. Sermons tend to reach the widest possible audience and provide an excellent platform for far-reaching vision casting. Additionally, the School of Prayer offers regular courses on various aspects of prayer.

Conclusion
Faithbridge has a strong prayer ministry because the congregation has chosen to make it so. For a variety of reasons, the practice of prayer does not come naturally or easily to most people. Nevertheless, the leaders of Faithbridge Church believe, and their experience seems to bear out, that prayer is absolutely essential to the ongoing health and growth of a church. Faithbridge, from its earliest days to the present, works to develop and maintain a strong prayer ministry. In so doing, it is much more capable of fulfilling its mission to "make more and stronger disciples."

Dan Slagle is the Spiritual Care Pastor for Faithbridge United Methodist Church in Spring, Texas.

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