What Are Prayer Stations?
What Are Stations of the Cross (AKA: PRAYER STATIONS)?
Incense,
icons, rituals, candles, chanting prayers, breath prayers, yoga, mysticism …
Also called Contemplative Gathering Stations or Journey to the Cross, "Stations of the Cross" is a Catholic ritual with 14 stations, each one with pictures or sculptures that depict the various "stages" of Jesus Christ's final days. This is a practice that began centuries ago and was sanctioned by the Pope Clement XII in 1731. In more recent days the practice has spilled over from the Catholic church into the evangelical church. Another example of the interspirituality taking place around the world and a further walk into apostasy.
Stations of the Cross, Prayer Stations
and the Emerging ChurchTwist of Faith:
Emergent churches attract worshippers
with alternative religious experiences
What
Are Prayer Stations? |
"A place
set aside for prayer ... It can be set up with a combination of
candles, crosses, icons, Scripture passages, devotional questions,
a prayer notebook ..., and a soft place to kneel or sit." Prayer Places
Who's
Using Them? |
Dan
Kimball
"Prayer stations are a great way to invoke the senses and express
worship."
(See chapter 7 - Emerging
Worship)
Rick
Warren and Purpose Driven Life
for Kids Grades 1-4
"Kids can also go to prayer stations
set up for specific types of prayer."
—From the Purpose Driven resources for kids
(This link has been removed from the Purpose Driven
Web site but the stations
did take place thus we are leaving this information on our site for
now.)
And For Adults
"We prayed around five artfully-constructed prayer stations, representing each of the themes of the Campaign."—From a 40 Days Prayer Manual
EmergentYS Convention 2005
Emerging Church
National Pastor's Convention 2005 (link no longer available)
Prayer Stations with Dan Kimball
Dan Kimball and Vintage Faith Church
"At the National Pastors Conference in San Diego, however, we found the labyrinth was back and given an update. The path was formed by black lines on a 35-foot square piece of canvas laid on the floor. We each were given a CD player with headphones to guide our journey through the 11 stations on the path. As we began the inward journey—toward the center of the canvas—a gentle female voice with a British accent read a portion of John 1. She told us not to rush through the labyrinth, but to slow down, breathe deeply, and fully focus on God."—Dan Kimball, A-Maze-ing Prayer"We made shifts in how we approached leadership, preaching, worship gatherings, spiritual formation, and evangelism. We changed our worship gatherings into multi-sensory experiences that changed the way we set up the room, used art, and used prayer stations." Dan Kimball
A Disciple of Dallas Willard and Richard Foster
"I worked as a church planter the following year and began using contemplative elements in worship from the outset. We held "thin place" services in reference to a belief that in prayer, the veil between us and God becomes thinner. Entire nights were devoted to guided meditations, drum circles, and "soul labs." At soul labs we used the rave culture's approach of multiple rooms for different music to create a number of prayer stations, where people could try various approaches to contemplative prayer."—Mike Perschon, Youth Specialties writer, Desert Youth Worker Disciplines, Mystics, and the Contemplative Life
