Bridging the Gap

It was early in my days helping churches to reach and disciple men that I would hear from men that their pastors were not very supportive of a church based ministry to men. This seemed odd but the more I heard the same thing the more convinced I became of the ‘gap’ between men and the pastor. The pastor in most every case was a man but he did not seem well connected to the men of the church.

I began to encourage men to pray for their pastor. Some would do this in person on Sunday morning before services. Some would make it a priority in their daily intercession. Some would gather their wife and/or family and make this a priority.

When I would speak at a church retreat or men’s dinner or at a Saturday morning breakfast I would number a white board or flip chart from #1 – #31 and ask men to pick a date of the month that they would absolutely pray for their pastor, his marriage and family, his church ministry and his life in general. Men were always eager to share this responsibility as it felt like the right thing to do.

Momentum for an initiative like this would usually be strong for a couple of months but it would lose steam and in most every case the reality of a team of men covering the pastor in prayer would fall away. Some individuals might stay the course but this initiative needed reminders and visibility to remain a team based mission.

One of the features of the website is to deliver a reminder email to each man on the date of the month that a man commits to cover his pastor in prayer.  www.PastorPrayerTeam.com