Chapter Assembly Guide

Purpose

The prayer assembly is important for the life of MFC for the following reasons: 

1. The larger body (the chapter) has an opportunity to worship the Lord together, thus affirming that we are His people and we are one. 

2. This is a time to allow the Lord to speak to us as a body, through prophecies, inspired Scripture readings, exhortations and personal sharings. Through these words from the Lord, we receive guidance, encouragement and strength as a body. 

3. This is an opportunity to fellowship and meet our brethren from other households and units, and thus to develop and strengthen relationships. 

4. It affords an opportunity for united and thus more effective action in the areas of intercession and spiritual warfare. 

5. It helps us be attuned to and appreciate what God is doing in and through MFC, thus sharpening our vision and our sense of mission. 

Leadership

The chapter prayer assembly is led by the Chapter Servant. The prayer assembly leader normally handles the following: 

• Introductory exhortation. 

• Worship. 

• Closing summary and exhortation. 

• Intercessory prayers. 

Note: If the Chapter Servant cannot attend for valid reasons, he may also ask another MFC senior (elder) to lead, or assign a senior Unit Servant to lead. 

Format

For good order in the prayer assembly, the following format should be followed: 

ARRIVAL 

• Registration and informal fellowship. By this time, the service team and physical arrangement should be all set. Check the document of SG for details: Corporate Worship (Prayer Assembly) 

GATHERING

• The start of the prayer assembly is signalled by a gathering song. At the end of this song, all should be seated and no longer engaged in any conversation. 

• New songs may or may not be taught. If new songs are taught, this should not take more than 10 minutes or so. 

INTRODUCTORY EXHORTATION

• The purpose of this is to prepare the assembly to worship the Lord. It is not simply making opening remarks, but rather an attempt to focus and attune the assembly to coming before the Lord in vibrant praise and worship. 

• This may be in the form of an inspired Scripture reading, a sharing, expounding on a theme, and the like, all followed by an exhortation to worship. 

• This may be as brief as less than a minute or as long as 7 minutes or so. 

• During this time, the assembly remains seated. After the exhortation, the leader asks all to stand.

WORSHIP

1. Music 

• The music ministry usually starts off with a rousing song, one which naturally propels the assembly to loud and vibrant praise. 

• The music ministry continues to make a joyful noise with its instruments during the times of verbal praising. 

• As the praising is toning down, another praise song is sung. The continuity should not be broken by allowing the praising to stop before starting the second song. Also, the momentum should not be inhibited by pausing to make an announcement as to what song is to be sung. 

• If the praising is still very vibrant, the music ministry leader (or upon signal from the prayer meeting leader) may decide to have a third fast song. 

• As the praising tones down, a slow worship song is played. 

•  The worship song leads automatically to singing in tongues. 

2. Words from the Lord.

• One might be inspired to have a prophecy in song, which can blend into the singing in tongues. 

• When the singing in tongues has stopped, there is a time of silence. This is a time of waiting on the Lord to speak. This can last from just a few seconds to a minute or so. 

• During this time, the worship leader may say, speak to us Lord, your servants are listening. Those with prophecies, visions and inspired Scripture readings come forward and present themselves to the prayer assembly leader, who decides on who will be allowed to speak out. 

3. Prayers by the leader. 

• The prayer assembly leader may respond to any specific words from the Lord. For example, a call to repent; or a call to pray for one another; or a time for those present to go to others to be reconciled. 

• Normally, the leader would just say a prayer on behalf of the assembly, which prayer would close the time of worship. 

• There are to be no individual prayers of thanksgiving and petition (as is done in a household meeting). 

• After his prayers, the leader asks everyone to sit down. 

• If there were others who wanted to speak a word from the Lord but were not afforded the opportunity during the time of worship, the leader can still call on them at this time. 

• The time of worship would normally be from 30 to 45 minutes. 

PERSONAL SHARINGS

• This is a time for calling upon individuals to come to the front and share about something significant in their life in the Lord. 

• It is suggested that those who want to share either inform the prayer assembly leader before the meeting, or if led to share as the prayer assembly is in progress, may pass on to the leader slips of paper with their name and a one‐sentence description of the content of their sharing. 

• The leader decides on whom he will call upon to share. 

• The leader may insert a song after every few sharings. 

• The total duration of this portion of personal sharings can be from 30 minutes to one hour. 

CLOSING REMARKS

• Up to this time, the prayer assembly leader tries to discern what is God's overall message for the assembly, from his own spiritual preparation before the prayer assembly, to the time of worship, to the words from the Lord, and through the personal sharings. He then puts everything together and gives a closing exhortation. 

• This is not just a summary of what has already transpired, but a weaving together of the various elements into a clear overall word of the Lord for the body. 

• This may take anywhere from a few minutes to 10 or more minutes. 

• After giving the message, the leader asks everyone to stand. 

CLOSING PRAYER / INTERCESSORY PRAYERS

• These are prayers of petition and intercession made by the prayer assembly leader. Pray over the Birthday Celebrants.

• This portion normally would be about 5 minutes, going through 3 to 5 aspects of intercession. 

• It can be ended by reciting the Lord's prayer, Hail Mary and Glory be. 

• The leader then asks everyone to sit down for the announcements. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• These can be about coming schedules, reports on activities, birthday and anniversary celebrants, and the like. There should not be too many announcements since this portion should not take too much time. 

• These are usually done by someone designated by the Chapter Servant. 

• After the announcements, the leader asks everyone to stand for the closing song. This song must be vibrant and joyful. 

SHORT FELLOWSHIP

• This will help connect and build relationship with brethren within the Chapter (Mini-MFC). 

• There can be a simple food to share, 1 solid and 1 liquid.

Pastoral Comments

1. It is important for us in MFC to have a similar or uniform way of conducting our monthly chapter prayer assembly. 

• It is a tangible evidence of our unity and our being a part of the one MFC which is a worldwide family. 

• It is a reflection of our unique culture in MFC.

• It enables any MFC member to attend an MFC prayer assembly anywhere in the world and just easily enter into the proceedings. 

• It makes MFC distinguishable anywhere. If Chapter Servants simply conducted the prayer assembly in any way or manner they deemed desirable, we would very quickly witness so many variations and possibly cause confusion and division within the larger MFC. 

• The "structure" of the prayer assembly is intended not to restrict the Spirit, but in fact to have good order, which should enhance the workings of the Spirit. 

2. Even given the above, however, it certainly is possible that the prayer assembly leader would be led to deviate from the “structure” at a particular prayer assembly or portion of a prayer assembly. We do have this flexibility to adjust to a genuine leading of the Spirit. 

3. All MFC members ought to see the chapter prayer assembly as a gift to us from the Lord, intended to build up the body. 

• We do not focus merely on the abilities of the leader or how interesting the sharings are. We are not there to be entertained. 

• We focus rather on the message of the Lord to us personally and to all of us corporately. 

• We need to realize that it is the Lord himself who is present and is ministering to each and every one, and that the Lord gives himself fully to the person who would accept him without preconditions. 

“Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, 

giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” (Ephesians 5:18b‐20) 

Please read the whole document: Corporate Worship (Prayer Assembly) by SG. Oct 7, 2019

Note: MFC PFO will still release 1 SUGGESTED Teaching topic every month. www.missionaryfamiliesofchrist.downloads