A Praying Congregation: The Art of Teaching Spiritual Practice

by Jane E. Vennard

Pastors and others who want to develop their skills as teachers of prayer and spiritual practices will find in this book not only wisdom for themselves but easily accessible lesson plans, enabling them to share Vennard's insights with others while infusing the activities with their own spirit and creative ideas. Through this book, readers' hearts are made ready to explore the wonder of strengthening their relationship with God through prayer.

Genres: Prayer, Christianity, Spirituality, Religion

166 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Ryan Motter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid resource on congregational prayer that will hold a close place on my shelves, if primarily because it has so many wonderful and helpful prayer exercises for individuals and groups. I felt like Jane Vennard was in the room with me, just having a conversation about prayer, and letting me share in the gift of her presence.

[Massanutten Regional Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suzy, Grottoes patron, July 2018, 4 stars:

Wonderful book with specific activities to teach people to open their ideas of what prayer is and how to practice.

[Carie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a useful if sometimes a bit dry book on helping congregations to pray.

[Luke Hillier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated a lot of Vennard's insights here, as well as her gentle, spacious tone. Nothing felt necessarily ground-breaking, which could partially reflect how intuitive much of her ideas are. It was a welcome surprise to see some meditations around process-oriented concepts of prayer (though they aren't named as such outright) in her section on intercession, and I appreciated how she connected that with her brief (but good!) articulation of panentheism. It was also the first time I'd seen "holding in the light" intercessory prayer described outside of specifically Quaker writing, which was great! My main complaint is that, while I really vibed with Vennard, I would have loved more guidance on how to teach spiritual practices and prayer in contexts that aren't so open to her, well, openness. That felt like a glaring underdeveloped aspect of the book to me.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read with a guide to incorporating a program within a Congregation.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short book brainstorming how to make prayer and spirituality the center of congregational life instead of an after though or add on

[Nancy Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to helping people explore their personal prayer styles