Warming the Heart

I was relaxing between meetings at the 2010 General Assembly in Cape Breton. A friend of many years quietly sat down beside me. He suggested to me that God could use me to call together a group of pastors in my Presbytery of Hamilton to pray with each other. The idea resonated with me.

It took me almost a year to do something about my friend’s word to me. In the late spring of 2011, three pastors in our presbytery gathered to pray. Through the summer months I wondered, would we be able to find the time to meet in the fall? Honestly, I lacked a real conviction that it would start up again. But God had some other plans.

Four new pastors came into our presbytery during the summer and early fall. I felt the Lord pressing hard on my spirit to invite them to join our prayer group expecting to hear, “No, thank you.” Instead, they all replied, “Yes.”

One of them, new to ministry in Canada, wrote to me this week (more than two years after first attending): “Since the first meeting, I have attended regularly. The fellowship with God and with each other is very practical, especially when we pray for our families. Every time I am able to delight in the kindness of the Lord. Always, there is a rich and real sense of God’s presence in our midst.”

Our format is quite simple. We meet once a month from 10:30 to noon. It’s a wide open door. There is no theological litmus test. The only requirement is our shared commitment that our time be confidential.

We talk (pastors are good at that). We laugh—a lot! The talking, the laughter and the openness to each other have built a trust that brings an increasing honesty with one another. Some of us through the two years have gone through some major stuff in our personal lives and in our ministry life. The Lord has used our 90 minutes once a month to help us love and support each other through the deep waters.

Then it’s time for lunch at a local restaurant and 60 – 90 minutes more together. Taken together, our investment of three hours has made a huge difference in our lives. One pastor, new to our prayer group this past fall, writes: “The time we spend together means we are able to get to know one another on a deeper level as we listen to each other’s stories, learn more about our understanding of things and share what is going on in our lives, at home and at work. I pay more attention now when my friend speaks in presbytery as I have a far deeper appreciation for him/her. It’s an incredible gift from God.”

Our group turnout varies from eight to 12 pastors. We have had at least half of the pastors in the presbytery attend at least once. On occasion some pastors from surrounding presbyteries join with us. I have developed a softer and gentler heart for my fellow pastors. They not only call me by name, they speak my name with love and my heart is warmed—deeply! I echo the words of a newcomer to our group: “Thanks be to God for these awesome times of sharing, caring and praying.”