Prayer Ministry of Crescent Heights Baptist Church
By Mike Chancellor,
pastor

Several years ago at one of the more intense times of conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention, I was impressed about the need to share something positive with those who worked so tirelessly in our institutions. At the time I was pastoring about 50 miles from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Our church had always enjoyed a close relationship to the seminary so we began a ministry of encouragement to the staff and faculty of the school. Each Wednesday evening our church family would sign three letters to faculty members. These letters simply affirmed that our church family had prayed for them and their family that evening. We also expressed our deep appreciation for their service to Southern Baptists in their work as teachers and leaders at the Seminary. The names were taken alphabetically from the seminary catalogue. The letters were mailed on Thursday.

I was not prepared for the response. One professor wrote sharing with our folks that in over twenty years of teaching, he had never once received a note like ours. No church had ever written to say, “We are praying for you, and we appreciate what you are doing.” I was crushed. Others wrote to express how our prayers came at a particularly difficult time for them, or that they were weighing tough decisions and appreciated our prayers.

Years have passed and I felt impressed this past September to pick up this prayer ministry again. This time, the church I pastor sits close to two Texas Baptist Universities and Southwestern. Knowing what a difficult time it was for the seminary faculty after the firing of Russell Dilday, we chose to include the school in our prayers. Each Wednesday evening, we still pray for three faculty and staff members, but we pray for one from each institution.

One person among the many who have written to the church wrote from Southwestern and shared how much our prayers meant to her personally. She recounted how during our prayer time she was flying back to Ft. Worth having been exposed to a highly contagious illness. She did not get sick, things went well, and she believed it was because while she was traveling, we were interceding.

One letter caused some concern. It arrived shortly after two faculty members had been accused of something for which they were not guilty. The professor who received our prayer letter thought she was doing something wrong and a church was out there gunning for her. To me her alarm underscored the need for us to do a better job of letting those who serve in our institutions know how deeply we appreciate their work. It seems we only write when we are upset.

This is a simple, inexpensive ministry of encouragement. More churches should think about how they can pray for those who are educating our future leaders and encourage those who shape the life and faith of our students.

June/July 1995