We hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the preparations for Christmas and the advent season.
The Chicago Prayer Summit is at a crossroads. John Erickson, the leader of the Prayer Summit Leadership Team accepted the call to pastor a church in Lafayette, IN. With John and Debbie's move and the fact that the attendance at the summit has decreased over the past several years, some on the Prayer Summit Leadership Team are feeling the need to re-evaluate our mission.
Since the last Prayer Summit in April the team has met several times to seek the Lord and discuss the future of the Summit. At the latest meeting (on November 3, 2005) we made several proposals that we want you to know about and to respond to your response is CRUCIAL for our decision making purposes.
We want you to know about the following events and require your prayerful response, where indicated:
•A Christ Celebration with David Bryant
The Prayer Summit Leadership Team has sensed the call to assist Pastor Lutzer of Moody Church to bring David Bryant to Chicago on March 26th and 27th and maybe 28th. The schedule is in discussion but it looks like there will be a Pastor's reception on March 26th at 3 or 4 PM with David Bryant, followed by a Christ Celebration at 6:00 PM. A Christ Celebration is somewhat similar to the Concert of Prayer that David became known for, but with a difference in emphasis and style. Then on Monday there will be an all day teaching by David. He has become driven by an idea to be drawn back to Jesus Christ and to reform the way that we are looking at revival and the church. We as a team heard a report from Jody Mayhew, our summit facilitator, about what David has done in Portland and believe that his teaching will be important for Chicago as well. We hope you will pencil in these dates and save them for this important event. At this time we are planning on having no cost except for lunch on Monday and an offering to cover David's costs.
•Prayer Summit 2006
We have chosen to give up our location for a summit at Cedar Lake. Due to the fact that Cedar Lake needed a commitment from us this fall with a substantial cash penalty if we cancelled, we released the venue. Because of the low attendance the last couple years and the cost of Cedar Lake we felt that we should look for a new location that would give us a bit more flexibility in the scheduling/deposit for the summit and a bit more freedom about our decision timeline. We are working toward a summit on April 17, 18 and 19th. Jody Mayhew and her husband Dan will be our facilitators this year. We originally planned the summit for the following week (April 24-26) but needed to change the date for scheduling reasons. We are exploring the University of St Mary of the Lake in Mundelein as the host location.
As we proceed, a few changes will be necessary to the registration process.
We have decided to take off the titles and go with those God is sending rather than beating the bushes trying to get a certain group to come. While in the past our emphasis has been on pastors and para-church leaders, over time that rule has relaxed and a mixture of Pastors, Para-Church & Prayer Leaders and Intercessors have attended. So it will truly be a Prayer Summit for all of Chicagoland and we hope you will continue to come.
We need to make this summit contingent on advance registration and payment. The cost will be $175 and will cover meals and lodging, an additional $25 donation would help to fund scholarships for those that are unable to pay the full amount. We are working to find other sources for the expenses of bringing in facilitators. In order to have a summit we need you to register and pay no later than March 1, 2006, though we would like to know your intention now, if you know what you are inclined to do. If we do not have the minimum number to break even on costs by March 1st we will not have a traditional summit. We believe the break even point is 40-50 people at this time. As we get closer to the date we will know more.
•Help Wanted
We as a summit leadership Team are confronted with the need for additional leaders on our team. With the loss of John and Debbie Erickson we are missing not only members but giftings that need to be replaced. There is also a feeling that some of the members of the team are being called to other ministries and need to step aside. So we would respectfully request that you pray about joining us in leadership.
As we left the last meeting, we all had a great sense that the Prayer Summit has a role to play in Chicago and its revival. We are jealous for the ground we have gained and want to persevere to see God's best for this summit and Chicago. We hope you feel the same way.
Please prayerfully consider this letter and respond to our four requests.
Name:_______________________________
Will you commit to coming to the prayer summit April 17, 18 and 19?
YES [ ] NO [ ] Please "X" the appropriate box.
Will you consider attending all or part the David Bryant event in March?
YES [ ] NO [ ] Please "X" the appropriate box.
Are you interested in either an all male Senior Pastor only prayer summit or an all women's prayer summit? This would be separate from the planned April Summit.
YES [ ] NO [ ] Please "X" the appropriate box.
Are you interested in having a discussion about participating in the Prayer Summit Leadership Team?
YES [ ] NO [ ] Please "X" the appropriate box.
Your Comments?
We as a team have been blessed to serve the Lord through the prayer summit, and we pray it has been a blessing for you as well. Thank you for reading our heartfelt call.
Sincerely,
The Chicagoland Prayer Summit Leadership Team
PS. Please return this response form to
Adam Shields,
5202 S Dorchester #3,
Chicago, IL 60615
or email the responses to info@chicagoprayersummit.org
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