Led by host and Associate Minister for New Church Strategies Joi Robinson, attendees pray alongside coaches, regional and general ministers, and members of congregations across the United States and Canada. These online gatherings include scripture showers, live musical performances, and testimony from various church planters about how prayer influenced the development of their emerging places of worship.
Registration is now available for the fall Prayer Summit.
Water the Plants is a church-wide initiative that aims to bring together 1,000 intercessors to pray for the leaders and congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the U.S. and Canada. The challenges of starting a church are unique. Prayer is a vital component in congregation and community development.
This program gathers a team of dedicated supporters of new worship expressions every week to prioritize the spiritual discipline of prayer. Based on 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow,” we will take a proactive approach to “watering” DoC church “plants” with prayer (Living Water).
As part of their Covenant Agreement, intercessors are expected to:
embrace a lifestyle of prayer
regularly join a Water the Plants Prayer Group by phone for an 11-minute prayer led by a Prayer Leader
receive regular communication regarding additional prayer topics by email, text and/or social media
provide your mailing address to receive Prayerphenalia – one item of your choice that will remind you to pray (keychain or wristband).
To become an intercessor, please read and complete this form to confirm your interest or text water the plants to 97000.
To submit a prayer request, please fill out the form on this page.
In her teaching on the spiritual discipline of prayer at the recent Water the Plants Prayer Summit, Rev. Dr. Martha Brown, a member of the Board of Directors for Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF), recounted the story of Jacob to both returning and first-time attendees of the Water the Plants initiative’s prayer-focused virtual event. As Rev. Dr. Martha told it, after stealing his brother’s birthright, this patriarch of the Israelites fled for the land of his mother’s brother, where he married and had children. For years, Jacob worked for his uncle, accumulating wealth and servants. Eventually, he decided to return home, sending his family, maids, and animals ahead of him. Along the way, Jacob found himself alone on the banks of the Jabbok, a tributary of the river Jordan. There he wrestled with a man until daybreak, when Jacob asked for a blessing, asked God for His name. This, Rev. Dr. Martha reminded those in attendance, was a moment of prayer.
“What we pray for shapes and expresses our understanding of who God is,” she explained.
And it also reflects how the church sees itself and what it wants to be.
At the June Prayer Summit, a virtual event that convened supporters of emerging and affiliating congregations and their leaders, they prayed for the Office of the General Minister and President, general and regional ministries, church planters, and all the faithful connections across the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. At the surface level, these were simple prayers for leadership. But in them, coaches, prayer call leaders, chaplains, and others acknowledged the sin of racism, the calls for reparations, and the hope that building the beloved community brings. More than one participant viewed new places of worship as fresh expressions of this beloved community.
Pastor John Powell
“We pray Lord that you will help us understand that you didn’t come to Earth and walk this planet for those days to rebuild a past temple,” said Pastor John Powell, a member of DCEF’s Board of Directors, “but you came to make something new.”
Alongside the passion for new church were calls for older congregations to follow the example being set by their younger counterparts, who, in the eyes of more than one regional new church team member at the gathering, are often creative and innovative in their approaches to serving their neighborhoods.
“Christians need fires lit underneath them,” enthused Ramona Crawford, a lay member of University Christian Church in San Diego, CA. “New church is the fire that Jesus is lighting under the established church.”
Rev. Dr. Joi Robinson
The summer Summit was the second such online event for New Church Ministry’s church-wide initiative, bringing together Disciples from Kansas, Washington, Florida, Arizona, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, and Minnesota. Like the inaugural event that took place on March 6, this Summit was hosted by Rev. Dr. Joi Robinson, Associate Minister of New Church Strategies, and included prayers for resources and relationships, testimony on the impact that prayer had on the development of a church plant, and a scripture shower. Unlike its predecessor, this event introduced a spoken word piece performed by Rev. Yvonne Gilmore, Interim Associate General Minister & Administrative Secretary of the National Convocation, called “Dangerously Reliable Tide.” In it, she echoed the feelings of those present, lamenting the limits of the church that she knows, but finding comfort and solace in prayer.
Rev. Yvonne Gilmore
“When you find yourself behind enemy lines
When trust is running away
When cumulus clouds look thirsty against the backdrop of a blues people
Water the plants
Access the portal within beyond the edge of yourself
Make dust speak
Post a help wanted sign in the window of your heart
Water outside the building
Saturate the soil
Practice talking to dry bones
Notice the budding before you
Delight in dialogue
Water the depths, pray without ceasing, you are inviting a dangerously reliable tide.”
Wesley King
How fitting then, that the Summit ended with the Lord’s Prayer (sung by Wesley King, New Church Ministry’s Program Coordinator), another reminder of the Christian faith’s humble origins, and of a yearning to connect with something larger than ourselves – and of our church.
Register for New Church Ministry’s next Water the Plants Prayer Summit, which will take place on October 2 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM EST.
Because our ministry seeks to train, equip, assist, and multiply emerging and affiliating congregations and leaders, we understand that supporting them is essential. So, in July of last year, our team started Water the Plants. Based on 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I have planted, Apollo’s watered, but God gave the increase,” this initiative calls together 1,000 intercessors to pray for new worship expressions.
“Connecting with God and others that have the same passion for new churches,” says Bernice Rivera, Oregon and Southwest Idaho’s New Church Ministry Associate, “is a source of energy for me.”
Every Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM EST and Thursday evening at 9:00 PM EST, participants gather on the phone.
“I have been so grateful during these past months to be able to be on the prayer line,” shares Rev. Dr. Joanne Bynum, the Associate Regional Minister in the Pacific Southwest Region.
But with only 11 minutes to pray for general and regional ministers, as well as new faith communities and their leaders, there’s little time for chitchat.
Recognizing a need for fellowship, Rev. Dr. Joi Robinson (Associate Minister of New Church Strategies and Water the Plants Coordinator) organized and hosted the first-ever virtual Water the Plants Prayer Summit on March 6th. Attendees included prayer intercessors, prayer call leaders, regional new church chairpersons, congregants across the United States and Canada, coaches, and others.
The event kicked off with introductions, where attendees displayed their prayerphenalia, including keychains and wristbands, over Zoom. “Panelist mode” came next, where a husband-and-wife team told the group how prayer influenced the development of their new church.
“Through prayer we can say that Gold helped us to prepare a place of worship,” testify Soriliz Rodriguez and Francisco Ramos (pastors of Iglesia Cristiana Casa de Refugio). “Through prayer our ministry flourished.”
After viewing a presentation on Soriliz and Francisco’s new congregation, various members of the wider church prayed for those affected by COVID-19, clear mission, vision and values, and strong resources, stewardship and finances.
The second half of the Summit followed a similar structure with prayers and testimony, in addition to a live musical performance. It also gave witness to how powerful and prevalent prayer is for both church planters and New Church Ministry itself.
“I knew clearly what God was telling me to do, but I wasn’t sure. I went to Leadership Academy seeking confirmation,” remarks Rev. D. Marie Tribble, who launched Restoration Community Christian Church. “After our week together, it was in that closing prayer that God began to affirm the work that had already begun.”
Pastor Terrell L McTyer (Minister of New Church Strategies) closed out the event, thanking those present and calling on them to join the next Water the Plants Prayer Summit, scheduled for Saturday, June 5th at 1:00 PM EST.
