A few years ago, as director of this ministry, I felt that I was holding the reins to a team of powerful horses, but each horse was moving in a different direction. I began to pray that the Lord would give us a unifying vision and a common direction for all we do. God is answering that prayer. I believe that God has given us, through Living System Ministry, an open door for more effective ministry, and a new vision for how we can do more good for the Kingdom of God than we have been able to do before.

I would appreciate your prayers for the staff of EGC as we work together this fall to more carefully and more thoroughly align all our program activities and goals with Living System Ministry. I have asked all our ministry directors to visually articulate the systems they are working in, and begin to discover the most effective entry points and leverage points in those systems. Then, working with many partners, we will find out how a little bit of energy applied to the right area can create a huge response for positive change in our churches and communities.

As we learn how to articulate Living System Ministry through all of our programs, and as we develop the tools to make this approach practical, we will be better able to train others.

Please look over the list below, and choose a few of these needs as well to lift up in prayer this month. Thank you for your prayers for the staff and ministries of EGC.

Sincerely,

Michele Mitsumori, director of administration, points out that two new Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary courses are starting up this fall in Hartford, CT, and Springfield, MA, through an EGC fiscal conduit partner, Visions for Springfield, led by Donna Calawa and Rev. Dr. Annette Wright. Offering these courses is one way Visions for Springfield seeks to nurture the vitality of churches in the Springfield-Hartford area by bringing more contextualized theological education to urban leaders there.

Sheba Telore, EGC's receptionist and a micro-enterprise trainer in India, asks to pray for an Indian colleague in ministry wanting to visit EGC who repeatedly has been denied a visa. Pray for the Boston-based Kolhapur Church Council Support Committee that works to support church planting and ministerial training in Kolhapur, India. Sheba and her husband, Rev. Ramesh Telore, ask for prayer as they consider whether or not the Lord would have them return to India to work with the Kolhapur Church Council.

Rev. Dr. Gregg Detwiler, director of Intercultural Ministries, asks us to please pray for upcoming series of activities around reaching out to Muslims in our communities, and for God's wisdom and love to permeate these activities. Gregg also asks for "wisdom, clarity, and the needed resources" for his work this fall, and that the Lord would send capable interns and volunteers to help with some ongoing ministry projects.

Brian Corcoran, project director with Applied Research and the Vitality Project, asks us to lift up several different needs. First, pray for the Hall Hotel Christian community as there are transitions in the household with two residents leaving and two new women moving in. Secondly, he points out that "Gordon in Boston" students will be joining the CUME Inner City Ministry class this semester, and asks that we pray for him as he will be facilitating their cohort within the class. And finally, Brian is part of an EGC team participating in an urban ministry conference in New York City this month. Pray for those EGC staff who will be presenting ideas around Living System Ministry to leaders from other North American cities, that their presentations will be anointed by the Spirit and that understanding and good conversations will result.