Reflections on Prayer and the Capital Campaign

A lot of times the blog contains updates on a project status, but we are fortunate to have a post today that reminds us that the capital campaign is more than a to do list--it is our journey in faith. Reading George McFarland's reflections not only encouraged me in regards to the Capital Campaign, but also gave me an opportunity to reflect on my own prayer life. I hope you are also encouraged and challenged by his reflections!

Over the past seven months the Session has encouraged our congregation to make the Capital Campaign a matter of prayer. The Elders, too, have also prayed for wisdom in the direction Tenth should move. We have seen the blessing of the Lord upon our congregation and thus I would like to reflect upon what I have learned as an elder who was directed by Session to head the Spiritual Formation Committee. Several things come to mind, but I’m sure there are others I am not aware of at this point, and certainly more to come as we will be working through by prayer the implementation of the campaign.

I realized how little I prayed. It wasn’t that I didn’t pray; in fact, I prayed quite regularly and systematically. The focus on the campaign, however, heightened my sense for the urgency of the Lord’s wisdom and provision for the campaign. I’ve found myself in the last seven months praying much more often. For example, I like to pray when I’m walking in the morning. What I came to experience was longer walks because I focused on praying through the items of the campaign and often did not realize how far I had walked. On one occasion I walked for 5 miles praying for aspects of the campaign when normally I walked 3-4 miles. The campaign gave a specific focus to pray and thus it encouraged me to pray “without ceasing.”

I realized how much there was to pray about. The prayer guides were helpful in this area in delineating specific matters to pray about. It wasn’t just a matter of praying for the general topics; though praying for these areas often led me to pray for what seemed to me innumerable aspects. I found that once I started to pray, I moved from one specific to another. This was very exciting because I saw the value of praying for very specific matters: the names of people who were directing the campaign and/or aspects of the each area. I learned in a small way why the Lord wants us to be very specific in our requests: He hears us and is not deaf or blind to those matters which we are bringing to him.

I realized the tremendous blessing of praying together. This came in many different ways that I found very encouraging. The Spiritual Formation Committee, for example, spent more time in prayer at our meetings than discussing business. Some meetings we prayed for close to an hour. My wife and I prayed for two thirty minutes sessions while we were in the car (I drove and, yes, I kept my eyes open). I knew, too, that over 60 people were praying as part of the Band of Gideon. What I realized was that I was not alone in praying, but that in praying with others I was encouraged to share my requests but also in hearing them pray for their requests. They share my petitions and I share theirs. It is often the case that as we pray together will Lord confirms certain matters as we hear others pray. The Lord, too, I believe enlarges our faith as we are surrounded by others praying. The Lord does indeed encamp around those who do trust in him . . . and certainly as we are together.

Like many of you, the past seven months has been a spiritual journey. For me, more specifically, it was a prayer journey. There were times when I didn’t “feel” like praying. At other times, it was a great joy to pray at length for aspects of the campaign. The Lord, I realize, knows our weaknesses and frailties. What I came to experience during the seven months I have enlarged in other praying areas of my life. Some times of prayer are very structured; others are very spontaneous. I know the Lord has a multitude of lessons for me about praying; if they are anything like those lessons of the past I will welcome it. May you, too, be blessed and encouraged in your prayer life.

George K. McFarland

Only A Few More Days

With the dedicatory concert drawing near, I thought I'd share a press release about Paul Jacobs, the organist who will be performing. Isn't it exciting to look back at where we started and see where God has brought us?

On September 12 Mr. Jacobs will perform in a free concert on Friday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. at Tenth Presbyterian Church located at 17th and Spruce Streets. The church’s new instrument is a four-manual Walker digital organ, the gift from former U.S. Surgeon-General and former church elder, C. Everett Koop, donated in memory of his wife Betty and their son David. Tenth Church celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2004 with a grand concert free to the public at the Kimmel Center, and it is in the same spirit that the church invites Philadelphia to this event.

Jacobs will reintroduce the Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, an unpublished prelude and fugue for organ by Samuel Barber, which received its only performance in 1928 by organist Carl Weinrich at The Curtis Institute of Music. Music historian Barbara Heyman discovered the Barber work at the Library of Congress in 1984, as part of the research for her award-winning biography-Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. Impressed by a recent performance by Mr. Jacobs, Dr. Heyman asked whether he would be interested in performing it. About the prelude and fugue, Mr. Jacobs comments, “Through this richly chromatic work, Barber seems to carry the listener beyond Brahms and Reger, into a new, personal realm of expression.” Both Heyman and Koop plan to be in attendance at the Philadelphia concert.

At 31, Paul Jacobs is widely acknowledged for reinvigorating today's organ scene with a fresh performance style and an "unbridled joy of music-making" in performances throughout America, as well as in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. In 2003 he became one of Juilliard's youngest faculty appointments and the following year was named chairman of the Juilliard organ department. Mr. Jacobs studied at The Curtis Institute of Music, where he doubled-majored in organ with John Weaver and harpsichord with Lionel Party, and subsequently at Yale University, where he studied with Thomas Murray.


Friday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m.

Tenth Presbyterian Church, 17th & Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA

Paul Jacobs, organ

Prelude and Fugue in B Major, Op. 7 - Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)

Trio Sonata in E Minor, BWV 528 - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Prelude and Fugue in B Minor (1928) - Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Pageant - Leo Sowerby (1895-1968)

Fantasia and Fugue on Ad nos, ad salutarem undam- Franz Liszt (1811-1886)


Admission is free. For more information, call 215.735.7688