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Launched at Synod 2023, the Time of Prayer is an initiative that Bishop Shane Parker described as “a critical first step as we seek to engage in contextual mission.” He explained to those gathered online that the term contextual mission is about serving the world that God loves. “We need to be in a place where we can see how God is already at work in the world before we can discern how we may be called to participate in God’s work in the world. We must listen in a new way to the Holy Spirit,” he said. “And so, at this time, in this time of prayer, we are listening for sparks that draw our attention to the places and people and situations where we might be called to offer our resources as a church, to enable the light of Christ to be present in our context.”’ He added: “And we will get to that only by taking a time apart to pray.”

The Rev. Simone Hurkmans, who co-chairs the Time of Prayer Working Group with Paul Mugarura, introduced other members of the working group — the Rev. Canon Ken Davis, the Rev. Elizabeth December, Paul Dumbrille of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer, Archdeacon Mark Whittall, and Daniel Jerusalimiec. She also thanked Karen McBride, a postulant of the diocese, who was instrumental in preparing materials.

The Rev. Elizabeth December offered a tour of the Time of Prayer resources available on the ADO website, which include videos from the launch at Synod and new resource materials posted monthly. The monthly resources have four sections:

Pray – an opening prayer

Listen – a Bible study guide, which includes PowerPoint slides that can be modified and adapted to each context and the groups that are using the resource

Consider – a theological reflection related to the the Bible study

Inspire – an example of contextual mission from another parish’s experience

Several people shared examples of the ways that they are making use of the monthly resources.

The Rev. Canon Ken Davis said St. James the Apostle Church in Perth is using the Time of Prayer resource as a monthly Bible study resource in the parish. The prayer is incorporated into the Prayers of the People at Sunday worship, and a shortened version of the Bible study was used at Parish Council. They also began their vestry meeting with a Bible study in small groups. “There was a proposal made before the end of vestry. It was very exciting,” he said.

December said she has been using the Bible study resources at Julian of Norwich, where she serves, at their pastoral care team meetings, education planning meetings and other parish gatherings.

The Rev. Rosemary Parker sent word that St. Aidan’s parish has been using the Time of Prayer resources as the focus of a joint Bible study with a neighbouring Lutheran parish. “My thought was that we are in the same geographic area, are in full communion, and who knows what divine sparks might come from it,” she said.

Hurkmans led those who attended the online gathering through the Time of Prayer resources for April, using a lectio divina (divine reading) format for the Bible study to familiarize everyone with the resources.

More diocesan gathering are planned throughout the year.

Futher information is available at: ottawa.anglican.ca/resources/a-time-of-prayer/

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Getting started and knowing where to start is the hardest part of many endeavors, but the team working on the Action Plan for Contextual Mission and New Worshipping Communities spoke with people who have started new worshipping communities and planted churches and heard repeatedly that this work must begin with prayer.

They launched “A Time of Prayer — Listening for Divine Sparks in our Midst,’ at Synod. “We believe that God is calling us to proclaim the good news in our time and place, and that our engagement in contextual mission and the creation of New Worshipping Communities needs to be Spirit-led and rooted in prayer,” team lead Archdeacon Mark Whittall explained. 

The team has also created resources to help parishes get started praying and listening for those divine sparks of inspiration. https://ottawa.anglican.ca/resources/a-time-of-prayer/  

Each month, new resources are posted on the Time of Prayer page on the diocesan website: https://ottawa.anglican.ca/resources/a-time-of-prayer/monthly-resources/  They are divided into four sections: Pray, Listen, Consider and Inspire.

Pray: “Individuals and parishes are asked to pray for God’s wisdom as we listen for how God calls us to engage in the world,” and a sample prayer is offered.

Listen: “A Time of Prayer is a Spirit-led time of listening to how God is calling our diocesan church and parishes to cooperate with God’s loving action in the world. The bible study guide and accompanying slides present a Lectio Divina approach to animate reflection. Lectio Divina is an ancient practice in the church which combines an attentive reading and praying of a Scripture passage with periods of silence to create space for the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts.î

Consider: Ideas from relevant books and other sources are introduced with questions to stimulate discussion.

Inspire: This section provides examples of ways that other parishes and diocese have approached contextual mission and created new worshipping communities.

The guide and Powerpoint slides contain opening and closing prayers, the scripture passage, reflection questions to stimulate discussion and links to some brief commentaries on the passage. The slides can be downloaded and edited, so that different parishes or groups can adapt them to be most relevant for their context.

“Our hope is that prayer groups will form across our diocese and use these prayer resources to discern God’s call for their parish to engage in contextual mission,” Whittall told Crosstalk. 

In addition to parish prayer groups, the team plans to have a facilitated diocesan-wide prayer group meeting every three months. The first of these is planned as an online meeting for March 20 at 7 p.m. 

“The idea behind that meeting is really to give people examples of how they can use the materials, have a few testimonials of how people have used it in their contexts, and then actually pray through the April set of materials,” said team member the Rev. Simone Hurkmans. She added that they hope it will help those who participate feel comfortable to go back to their parish or group and lead a similar session. — Leigh Anne Williams

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