Blog

Leader Prayer Groups

We share a common vision to see every heart transformed by the love of God in Central Arkansas. Every great move of God is preceded by united prayer. We want to encourage pastors and ministry leaders to participate in a regional prayer movement.

The CityChurch Network is calling 100 local pastors and ministry leaders to participate in monthly Leader Prayer Groups and semi-annual One Voice events in Central Arkansas. Leader Prayer Groups connect church leaders through relational, regional and revival focused prayer. Our semi-annual One Voice events gather every church in the city to unite in prayer.
We are inviting leaders like you to participate in and help facilitate a Leader Prayer Group with 3-4 other pastors once a month. Leader Prayer Groups receive fresh, supportive content every month to encourage you in prayer. Help us spark a movement of united prayer among 100 church leaders in Central Arkansas!

Getting Started

1. Identify 3-4 pastors or ministry leaders of other churches to join your group.
2. Determine the ideal time and location for the members of your group.
3. Enlist your group to receive the monthly Regional Prayer Guide.
4. Attend One Voice with ten members from your church.

It’s that simple! We also want to honor all preexisting pastor’s prayer groups in Central Arkansas. Please contact Logan Bloom at lbloom@citychurchar.org to join or launch a Leader Prayer Group near you! A list of current Leader Prayer Groups can soon be found at citychurchar.org.

Race Under Grace

Under the guidance of Pastor Harold Nash and his team from Fellowship North Church, the Nehemiah Network announces the continuation of the Race Under Grace initiative for 2019. Race Under Grace is a project designed to pursue racial unity in and between Central Arkansas Churches. Pastor Nash, and others in the congregation, have used this powerful process at Fellowship North for years, and are achieving giant steps in knitting together the hearts of ALL God’s people in fellowship with this ministry.

The flagship of the Race Under Grace project is a series of cross-racial conversations that serve as a launch-point for pastors and church leaders.  This Leadership Series introduces pastors and church leaders to the “Race Under Grace experience” and helps them make plans for pursuing racial unity in their own church settings.

The Leadership Series is then supplemented with continued conversation among pastors and leaders, but more importantly with tools and guidance to help Central Arkansas churches create their own Race Under Grace experience.  We see this happening in three possible phases:

  • The Race Under Grace leadership team can help pastors design and lead cross-racial learning experiences for their church’s leadership team (deacons, elders, staff, key teachers and lay leaders);
  • The Race Under Grace leadership team can help a church’s leadership design a cross-racial learning experience for congregation members and coach the team in leading the experience;
  • The Race Under Grace leadership team can help a church’s leadership team think through, and make plans for, implementing a hand-full of core disciplines should they wish to move toward a healthy multi-racial church environment.

Drinking From The Same Cup

Having experienced prejudice and stereotyping among Christians, Pastor Kevin Kelly of Second Baptist Church in Little Rock realized that walls were being built between the body of believers, the church. Kelly warns, “The beginning of racial reconciliation and unity in the community hinges on Christianity- the church.” Along with the division and pain brought on from such segregation and partiality, he saw the destruction being passed onto younger generations in the church, igniting a passion in him to seek the understanding of people that were not like him.

He became involved in the CityChurch Network, a team of pastors and local leaders with one purpose – to unite the churches of Central Arkansas. It was here he met his now good friend, Ray Williams. Williams, an active leader in the CityChurch Network, fueled this desire inside Pastor Kelly, encouraging and seeding sight for unity in the community.

Pastor Kelly envisions that one day the churches in Little Rock would claim and headline themselves first to be the church of Central Arkansas and in smaller letters their church name, an example of their testament of oneness in the city. He anticipates churches of Central Arkansas partnering together and forming a coalition for unity not individuality. “But we are not yet there,” Kelly says. “We are still saying “me” and “I” instead of “us” and “ours”.

He goes on to say that although Christians have not reached the unity in the city that God has called them to, he strongly believes that God has poured an anointing on the city of Little Rock Unity among the body of believers simply allows us to do more, a whole lot more.”  A unified community of Believers in Little Rock provides a  biblical portrait in the community of what Jesus means when he tells his twelve “…the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these he shall do.” Jesus couldn’t have gathered a more diverse group of disciples but through their different backgrounds, professions, and religions they came together in Christ and miracles took place. Kelly feels that Christians have to step up and demonstrate this pure picture of love in Little Rock and with God miraculous things will happen.

2018 Prayer Summit Reflection

Reflection – 2018 CityChurch Network Prayer Summit

~Keith Lape – Pastor – River City Church

Having been a Prayer Summit participant for about 18 years, I have come to anticipate this experience as one of the highlights of my year. During this time, my association with the CityChurch Network in general, and the Prayer Summit in particular, has profoundly influenced my approach to prayer, ministry, and life. Largely influenced by this framework, I have woven a variety of prayer practices into the fabric of my life and ministry that have set me on a much healthier, spiritually vital, Christ-dependent, and empowered trajectory.

This year‘s edition of the event has not disappointed. I love the variety of Christian faith traditions represented in this group, particularly because of the unity that we experience based upon our common faith in the person of Jesus. During our time together, earthly walls of race, heritage, culture, class, and age are being broken down, making way for the ministry of reconciliation to be unleashed

A central conviction that we share is that prayer and the Word are essential for any authentic Kingdom advancement. Speaking of the “Kingdom,” this emerged as a significant recurring theme throughout the Summit. It originally surfaced during our first evening together, as we walked through the Lord’s Prayer.

This year, instead of having an outside facilitator, we were served by several of our local men, who shared this role. The Lord used all of them beautifully in our time of scripture fed, spirit led, worship based prayer.

In addition to these rich times in prayer, that made three hours pass in a heartbeat, we shared wonderful fellowship over meals and during break times. As the old proverbial song goes, “make new friends, and keep the old; one is silver, and the other gold.“ The wisdom herein was experienced bountifully this year as always. As an older adult, I forged a friendship with a young man who inspired me with his deep faith, zeal for God’s glory, humble service, teachable spirit, and his consistently encouraging attitude.

One final thing that is noteworthy about this year’s Summit, is that we met at brand new place that, despite some flooding, boasted gorgeous scenery and cozy accommodations. I’m already eagerly looking forward to the next Summit, and I’m hoping then to make even more new friends

Darrell Adcock – GLS is MORE

GLS more than a Summit ~  Darrell Adcock  South City Church……..I’ll never forget sitting in the lakeside auditorium with 2,463 others at Willow Creek Community Church outside of Chicago for the very first Leadership Summit.  The presence of the Holy Spirit was heavy on me.  I could tell they had been praying fervently over a long season to “call us up” as leaders.  As Hybels famously said,  “The local church is the hope of the world, and its future rests primarily in the hands of its leaders.”

It seemed only natural to use this conference as a chance to connect with my teenage kids and let them taste of what mature leadership looks like and ways to grow in their service through the local church, learning from leaders in business, politics, thought-leaders, and nonprofits.

“When Dad called me one day to go to this leadership conference, I thought, “I’ll go, spend time with my dad” I never thought that this might change the way I live my life. The first year it opened my eyes to the world of leadership and that I could actually be good at it. What a true blessing it was to sit next to the man I looked up to most in leadership, in life in the church, and most of all as a teacher. The Global Leadership Summit has been the two days a year that I look forward to most. From hearing from the top leaders to the car rides on the way back talking about what stuck out most. The Summit has shaped me to truly love the local church and made me see leadership in a whole new way. Six years down and twenty to go!” – McKenna Adcock

Over the past 25 years of the GLS, I bet I’ve only missed a couple.  God profoundly uses this conference to re-calibrate my leadership, renew my calling, and expand my heart for the local church, the world, and the needs of people.  Plus, I will never surrender the opportunity to connect and grow with my, now adult, kids.

Don’t worry, Kenna, I’ve already got our tickets for next year!

McKenna Adcock uses her leadership for Starbucks and in serving at South City Church in Little Rock. Darrell Adcock serves as Executive Pastor and Music Director at South City Church.  He and Tracy are celebrating 30 years of marriage and their four kids.  Together they help foster and adoptive families through Empowered to Connect Parent Training