Grace and peace to you.

You already believe prayer is the center of the call. That is not in question. What quietly erodes for the most devoted among us is not our belief in prayer but our practice of it. The platform petition, the grace over a meal, and the hurried word before a meeting remain. But the sustained, private communion, the kind Jesus rose “very early, while it was still dark” to keep (Mark 1:35), thins out under the weight of ministry.

THE GAP WE RARELY NAME

This is the prayer gap: the distance between what we know prayer to be and what our week actually holds. It is common, it is quiet, and it persists despite our sincere desire for consistency. Left unaddressed, it shows up downstream as burnout, a slow depletion of joy, a dullness of spiritual attentiveness, and the strain of ministering from emptiness rather than from power. We were never meant to lead on fumes.

NOT ANOTHER PROGRAM: A DIFFERENT WAY TO PRAY

This is not another prayer program, add-on, or workshop to fit into an already-full calendar. It is an invitation to a different way of praying, a return to the well the whole New Testament shows Jesus drinking from. Jesus did not add prayer to his ministry; he ordered his ministry out of it: solitude first, then service, with the solitude steering the service. Over six unhurried weeks, together we will move from functional prayer toward contemplative prayer, recovering prayer not as one more thing to perform, but as participation in the life of God, and as the place where you remember who you are before you are ever useful to anyone.

WHAT THIS SEASON CAN RESTORE

The study is designed to strengthen two things this season tends to steal: your personal prayer consistency, and short-term indicators of spiritual resilience, including emotional steadiness, meaning, recovered identity, and hope sustained in God’s presence rather than in circumstance. Many who walk this road describe a move from performance toward presence, from isolated striving toward shared strength, and from ministering out of emptiness toward leading from a replenished center. Structured contemplative practice, held in the company of trusted peers, is the path.

WHAT PARTICIPATION INVOLVES

Six weekly ninety-minute sessions online via Webex, held on Mondays. Each session weaves four movements: a brief teaching, a guided contemplative practice, a leadership-integration conversation, and a reflective journaling prompt. You will also complete a short, confidential pre- and post-workshop survey and take part in two focus-group conversations. Estimated commitment: approximately 10–12 hours across six weeks.

WHOM WE ARE SEEKING

Twelve to fifteen ordained clergy or licensed ministers, including pastors, priests, and ministers of any Christian denomination, women or men, age 18 or older, currently serving in pastoral or ministerial leadership.

YOUR PARTICIPATION IS VOLUNTARY

Participation is entirely voluntary and involves no cost or compensation. You may decline any question or withdraw at any time without penalty. Your responses will be kept confidential and reported only in coded, aggregate form. Risks are minimal, chiefly the possibility of emotional discomfort when reflecting on ministry fatigue, and support will be made available upon request. No specific benefit can be guaranteed. All participants will read and sign the United Theological Seminary IRB Informed Consent Form before the study begins.

If something in you is ready, not for another obligation, but for a more intimate encounter with God, I would be honored to have you join us. To learn more, request the Informed Consent Form and schedule, or reserve one of the fifteen seats, please reach out:

Prayer is not an add-on to ministry. It is the praxis from which ministerial identity, resilience, and renewal emerge.