Lambeth Prayer Community: the need for a ‘Gospel Prior’
by Andrew Symes:
Several years ago I attended a conference where one of the main speakers, a pastor from Latin America, had witnessed remarkable exponential growth in his church through people coming to faith in Christ, and community transformation as a result in the city. His main message to us (I can still remember it) was the importance of prayer, and in particular for Christian leaders to “raise an army of intercessors”. It seems that this is also in the mind of Archbishop Justin. He has spoken often of his priorities for peace (the work of reconciliation in church and society), and poverty – concern for, and practical action on behalf of and with, the disadvantaged – undergirded by prayer.
But a new initiative shows he believes that prayer is too important to be left to Bishops, clergy or even busy lay people whose prayer life is often too shallow, constantly squeezed as we live as practical atheists, cramming more and more action into our day, neglecting time in God’s presence. The problems that we face are too big for us, the spiritual resources in Christ too abundant merely to skate over as a church – we need people whose main work is prayer. So, significantly on the day after he met in London with a group of Coptic and Orthodox Bishops and clergy with strong links to the churches in Syria and Iraq currently experiencing appalling persecution, the Archbishop announced a new prayer initiative – the formation of a community of prayer. Based at Lambeth Palace, the 16 full timers and 40 part timers, mostly under the age of 35, beginning next year will spend a year in prayer, study and community service (www.stanselm.org.uk).
What a great idea! – based on the recognition that the ministry of the Archbishop and his staff need prayer support, but also that a new generation needs training in the urgent task of serious intercession. The Archbishop rightly notes that such a venture “makes no sense if God does not exist”, but also that to spend long periods of prayer carries with it great risks. It is a test of faith to be sure – what if “nothing happens”? And it is a test of one’s own inner resources. Long periods of time alone in silence, reading, reflecting, talking and listening to an invisible God, then living with the same people performing the same simple tasks day after day, are a sure way to bring to the surface any unresolved issues of character and psychology. This new “order” is apparently looking for a Prior to guide the community, and this appointment will surely be the most important of the whole enterprise. Basic qualifications required are mentioned on the website, but many people will be watching with interest and hoping for a clear statement of missional intent by appointing someone with a sound Gospel heart. So, humbly and tentatively, here are some suggestions of qualifications that the ideal candidate for Prior should possess.
He or she:
a) should be theologically orthodox, believing that God is there and that prayer is a response to his sovereign initiative, as opposed to doubting whether God is anything other than a projection of our imagination.
b) should be practised in prayer then not as mindfulness of self, achieved through breathing and posture exercises and other forms and methods, but adoration of and bringing petitions to the loving Father through the mediation of the Son by the Spirit.
c) will hold to the primary authority of Scripture guiding how we understand the triune God, how people come into and develop a relationship with him, and how we should live our lives, particularly in the areas of how we deal with strong inner drives such as anger, sexual desire, pride and it’s other side, low self esteem.
d) is passionate about mission, primarily in the sense of individuals coming to repentance and faith in Christ as a result of hearing the Good News, and also in the wider sense of communities and nations becoming more just and peaceful places to live as a result of the mustard seed influence of the church.
e) is a battle scarred veteran of Ephesians 6 spiritual warfare, discerning and facing the unseen powers behind disunity, unbelief, rebellion, immorality, injustice, persecution, poverty; knowing that vulnerability, wisdom and humility are qualities that only come when we’ve faced the fact that we can’t do it, and then have seen God do it.
f) is 100% focused as Prior on training an elite squad of serious intercessors for the church and the world, rather than having half an eye on the opportunities for preferment that such a post might bring. This project, with a good leader and the right ethos outlined above, has the potential to be powerfully used by God in renewal, and a model for other similar communities elsewhere. A ‘Gospel Prior’ at Lambeth, leading a group of disciplined, bible-based young people, committed to intercession, evangelism and social concern? A great vision, and a challenge to orthodox Anglicans, to get a good candidate to apply – but would such a person be selected?
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
