CLIFTON, NY (November 1, 2005) – Winding through the woods of the five-acre site is a path. Individuals silently stroll among the trees, pausing at designated stations to offer thanks and ask God’s blessing on their work. Soon this incredibly beautiful environment will be home to members of Parkside Covenant Church, which is constructing its first building on the acreage. The idea for engaging the new environment in prayer is something many churches are encouraged to do before the first spade of dirt is turned, says Don Fensterman, director of the Churches Planting Churches initiative with the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism of the Evangelical Covenant Church. He works closely with new church plants whose congregations are anticipating new construction projects. “The prayer walk causes the funding process to become tangible,” Fensterman notes. “Most such groups have talked about property for a long time and perhaps have had land deals fall through previously. Walking the land brings a sense of reality.” Parkside’s prayer path includes 14 stations set approximately 70 feet apart along a meandering trail, which member Gerry Currier says is a couple hundred yards at the most. Without the prayer stops, a person could walk it in two minutes, he notes. The stations are structured somewhat differently at each site along the Parkside path. Each station includes a four-by-four wooden post that serves as a prayer guide. Laminated displays suggest scriptures and prayers related to the text. “It’s not ‘Let’s pray that everyone gives us a lot of money,’ ” says Currier. “It’s a lot more focused on our spiritual lives.” “At each stop, the goal is to envision (in the future new edifice) the babies in the nursery, the drama team up front, kids on the playground, a real baptistery perhaps,” Fensterman suggests. “Then pray for those individuals and that aspect of ministry on that spot. This also speaks to the greater good aspect . . . we’re doing this for people not yet here, people we will never meet, those that come behind us.” Developing the prayer walk took five people about five hours, says Currier, noting that he had pre-cut the posts. The signs affixed to the posts were made of paper cropped to fit inside 8 x 10 frames and sealed with clear packing tape to weatherproof them. Several benches also have been placed along the path. A mail box was installed at the front of the trail containing copies of the prayers located along the path. The front of the trail is decorated with flowers. Some of the other church plants are in similar stages of preparation for construction and are designing similar prayer walkways as a way to engage ministry supporters, Fensterman notes. One of those is Celebration Covenant Church in Omaha, Nebraska. “We’re waiting for the corn to get out of the fields,” says pastor Doug Ferguson. Celebration’s trail is designed to cover two acres, says Ferguson. Crosses will be placed along the trail. Prayers will be written on pieces of linen sheets that will be attached to the crosses. Afterwards, a woman in the congregation will make a quilt from the sheets. Another congregation that incorporated a prayer pathway is Summit located in Apex, North Carolina, which embraced the special initiative as part of a prayer emphasis in the church. Summit’s pastor, Vann O. Trapp Jr., says the trail was designed to coincide with the congregation’s 40-day prayer focus. The path crossed the eight acres of the church’s property. Twelve stones next to stakes were placed around the property, with each stone corresponding to a certain day. Church members would bring prayer cards with them and read the text and pray according to the day. “It was well received,” he adds. The prayer pathways often expand to reach individuals who are not part of the congregation – that was the case with Parkside where the pathway has become an outreach tool. “Neighbors are asking to walk the path,” Currier says. That does not surprise Fensterman. “We are staking a claim, building a legacy, investing for eternity,” he observes. “The prayer is for the future ministry and for current attendees to have sensitivity to this unique privilege and opportunity.” To learn more about the Parkside experience, call the church staff at 518-376-8790. Information also is available by visiting the Churches Planting Churches website at www.churchesplantingchurches.org. Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
