Lead Pastor Fellowship

For over 20 years, Arlington pastors have been gathering together for fellowship and prayer. In fact, it was out of the original “Band of Brothers” (well, the original group in Arlington, that is) that the idea for a partnership of churches was born. You can read more about that in “Our Story.”

Over the years, the gathering of pastors has taken on various forms, but it has always centered on mutual support and prayer. Arlington Bridge Builders was recently asked to coordinate the monthly fellowship luncheon, and we were more than happy to agree.

On March 19th, about a dozen pastors met at Cherrydale Baptist Church for two hours of fellowship, a wonderful meal provided by a Guatemalan friend of Arlington Bridge Builders, testimonies, and discussion on an issue of mutual concern. In March, we talked about how the recent changes in federal employment affected our congregations and how churches were coming alongside their members.

Perhaps the highlight of the fellowship was our corporate time of prayer, guided by the petitions of the Lord’s prayer. In the second petition, Jesus invites his followers to boldly pray for an incredible disruption of the ways of this world, by pleading that “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” And so the pastors prayed in one voice for all the elements included in the “31 Days of Prayer for Arlington”—a guide we commend to you to use as well.

We believe that ministry follows relationship, and so please pray for the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer for unity among his followers, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20–21)