Chain of Prayer
Vigil materials
Join Chain of Prayer, the church-wide prayer partnership
January 1 to March 23, 2008. Download the PDF
registration form. (Acrobat
Reader required).
What is a prayer vigil
A Prayer Vigil is continuous prayer by many persons during
a certain period of time. It is a powerful force in spiritual
preparation for expressing the evangelistic mission of the
Church. These unusual days require more than the ordinary.
Our strength reinforced by God's power, through personal encounter,
is required to meet the demands of our times
The 24-hour Prayer Vigil offers to persons who share
in it the opportunity for a time of uninterrupted dialogue
with God. When your congregation keeps its Prayer Vigil, it becomes
an essential link in a vast Chain of Prayer. Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) congregations are thus joined together
in unbroken prayer from the early hours of January 1 until
the beginning of Easter morning.
The number of persons taking part in the Prayer Vigil will
be determined largely by the size of the congregation. If
the time is broken into one-hour periods, at least 24 persons
will be needed. When there are half-hour periods, 48 volunteers
are required. Advance instructions to all participants should
make it clear that each person is expected to arrive a bit
ahead of time and remain until the arrival of the next participant.
A Prayer Vigil may begin at any hour and proceed for twenty-four
uninterrupted hours. The enrollment form suggests a schedule
from 6:00 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. the following day. Each congregation,
of course, is free to set its own time span of twenty-four
hours, but the prayer should be continuous.
Many congregations use an elder and a deacon, or a couple,
to serve as captains for three-hour periods throughout the
24 hours of the Prayer Vigil. They wait patiently and quietly
near the prayer room, always alert to the needs of all persons
sharing in the Chain of Prayer. It is reassuring to all prayer
participants—whatever the time of their vigil—to
know that they are not alone in the church building.
