Pausing to pray: Community event set for Sept. 24-26

By Mary Owen

Tom Zilverberg said prayer is one of the most powerful tools a Christian has. Last fall, he and his pastor, Sam Duke of Grace Bible Fellowship in Stayton, had the idea of a community prayer event.

The idea dominoed as Zilverberg reached out to other pastors in the area. This month, pastors at several churches are gearing up for prayer events.

“Santiam Prayer Gathering … Awaken to God” will take place Sept. 24-26 at Stayton Christian Church, Turner Church of God, Gates Community Church, Mehama Community Church, Canyon Bible Fellowship, Santiam Chapel and Foothills Church.

“Within an extremely short period of time, there were seven churches that wanted to participate,” he said. “It seemed obvious the Lord was opening doors quickly, and we were prepared to take his lead and move ahead quickly, too, filling in the details as we went along.”

“Mike Stair, pastor of Gates Community Church, is bringing together several churches in the Mill City/Gates area to participate in the gathering,” Zilverberg said. “Other churches in the area may decide to open a prayer time in their own church or join together with other nearby churches during that week and then join together with everyone for the Concert of Prayer.

“We expect from experience that pastors and people from churches which aren’t formally involved in the gathering will come to some of the scheduled prayer times.”

Although the prayer times are geared for Christians in the Santiam Canyon, Zilverberg said all are welcome.

“The meetings will move from church-to-church,” he said. “For most of the prayer times, people can select a gathering that is most convenient for them.”

Prayer sessions will start at a quarter past the hour and continue for 45 minutes.

“A pastor will lead each prayer hour,” Zilverberg said. “People can pray out loud or silently during those times. A 15-minute break will start at the top of each hour with a time for refreshments. People can come and go at any time during the prayer times as schedules permit.”

Zilverberg expects between 30 and 45 people at each session, with some 400 to 600 people attending the Concert of Prayer on Friday evening.

Prayer will center on praying for people, blessings, forgiveness, salvation, freedom from persecution, an awakening by national and local leaders, and more, Zilverberg said.

“We will be praying that God will bless and use the churches in the North Santiam Region in a powerful way in the next year,” he added. “And we will be praising God!”

Zilverberg believes prayer today is critical.

“The Bible says that times of increasingly greater trouble and distress will come to us as the time of Jesus’s return gets closer,” he said. “We see it happening in the world around us, in our leaders, our families, our churches, our neighborhoods and in ourselves.

“Let’s get together and pray,” he said. “God is in control. Through prayer we align ourselves more with his agenda and we access the true peace and joy that can only come from him during these turbulent times.”