A Worldview Church Interview with Dr. Stan Gale

Dr. Stan Gale is a long-time friend of BreakPoint and the Worldview Church. In addition to his work as pastor in West Chester, Pa., Stan is the founder and director of Community Houses of Prayer, a ministry designed to mobilize church members for outreach to their communities through prayer. Having followed this ministry for some time, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce readers to this valuable resource.

WVC: How did this ministry come about? What was it in your own life, or that of your church, that led you to take up this work?

Stan Gale: In the mid-1990’s I was serving as pastor of a local church. Although my prayer life was steady, it didn’t seem to have the fire and fervency I had tasted at various periods in my Christian walk. On top of that, as a pastor I had the job of leading and equipping my congregation in their walk with Christ and service to Him.

My elders allowed me the opportunity to do further study toward a doctorate at Covenant Theological Seminary. My coursework led me into study of prayer for revival and kingdom prayer as a mighty means of God’s appointment for the accomplishment of His decreed will. At the same time, God was drawing me into rich communion with Him as I was learning to live in His presence, with a profound sense of my sin and indebtedness to His grace. Other coursework exposed me to lifestyle evangelism and to the often-progressive nature of God’s working in lives.

Part of my program involved doing a research project and writing a dissertation. My project dealt with prayer and personal evangelism. The dissertation that came out of it was entitled, “The Effect of Strategic Prayer on the Evangelistic Attitude and Activity of the Local Church.” For the literature review section of the dissertation my advisor suggested I explore the dimension of spiritual warfare in evangelism. He told me there was very little written about the subject from the perspective of Reformed theology. Sure enough, he was right. Most of the popular books approached spiritual warfare from a fanciful, extra-biblical framework, while Reformed literature was concerned mainly with spiritual warfare in sanctification issues of counseling and discipleship rather than service issues of evangelism.

From that groundwork and continuing study, I developed Community Houses of Prayer, the heart of which is the Community Houses of Prayer Ministry Manual, published in 2002. The website to support the ministry was launched in 2003.

WVC: What exactly is CHOP?

SDG: CHOP is a ministry tool that directs prayer as a means to revive (motiva­tion) our hearts in grace as we draw near to the living God as our loving Father, and to involve (participation) us in our everyday lives as active witnesses for Jesus Christ in dependence and expectation of His work­ing. CHOP looks to cultivate in us a greater awareness of the evangelistic nature of ordinary life in which we find ourselves every day. It kindles in us an attitude of personal involvement and expectation as the wit­nesses for Christ we are by virtue of being His disciples. It involves us in the actual activity of bearing verbal witness to the glorious gospel of salvation bound up in Christ alone. We look to draw near to people for Christ and draw near to Christ for people. And we do it collectively, united with fellow believers for mutual encouragement in a common mission.

WVC: What does it mean to be part of CHOP?

SDG: CHOP involves a small group of two or more believers committing themselves to a 12-week period of meeting together weekly and praying privately daily. The mission of the group is the common goal and mutual support of reaching others for Christ, particularly through prayer. It involves kingdom prayer that will powerfully affect us as God’s instruments and will carry out God’s purposes in those around us for whom we are praying and drawing near. CHOP weaves together four strands: 1) lifestyle evangelism, 2) strategic prayer, 3) personal spiritual renewal, and 4) spiritual warfare. Par­ticipation in CHOP trains participants in these four aspects through instruction, reinforcement and prac­tice.

WVC: What exactly are these four strands woven into CHOP?

SDG: Lifestyle evangelism looks to share the gospel in the context of those relationships at work or at home or wherever God has providentially placed us. Strategic prayer is kingdom prayer (i.e., prayer concerned with the matters, priorities and goals of Christ’s king­dom) characterized by planning, intention, focus, and direction. Personal spiritual renewal reaches to matters of motivation as we are invigorated with the scent of God’s grace so richly, unexpectedly and undeservedly poured out upon us. It seeks to help us grow in intimate knowledge of God fueled by His revelation of Himself in His Word. Such prayer draws us near to God, cultivating in us His heart for the lost, compelling our wit­ness by love and gratitude and not by sterile duty. Spiritual warfare takes into account the biblical data of the reality of spiritual opposition for our work of witness for the extension and strengthening of the kingdom of God against the kingdom of the prince of darkness. It is prayer aware and prayer against. This strand attempts to find firm footing on the foundation of God’s written Word, while avoiding the pitfalls stemming from fanciful notions and excesses.

WVC: How would you describe the mission of CHOP? How do you measure your progress?

SDG: The official mission of CHOP is “to mobilize Christ’s disciples around the world where God has provi­dentially placed them to reach others with the gospel through the intimacy and instrumentality of strategic prayer.” CHOP pursues that mission toward the vision of seeing “a developing network of committed communities of pray-ers around the world knowing God and seeking God for the souls of those around them.” The means to carry out the mission in pursuit of the vision is the CHOP Ministry Manual.

Measurement is tricky business. Measurement of the vision that looks to count the number of community houses of prayer is virtually impossible. On the current website we do have a button in which people can register their CHOP so that we can pray for them specifically throughout the duration of their involvement. But registration is optional. Measurement of mission that sees God’s work in CHOP participants as they draw near to God and to others with an increased awareness of their people environments and involvement in them for the sake of Christ is even more difficult to quantify. The most meaningful measurement for me are the reports of those involved who have expressed a newfound grasp of prayer, renewal of grace in relationship with God, and satisfaction in actually reaching out for Christ.

WVC: What feedback are you receiving? Are any other churches active in this ministry?

SDG: The greatest surge of feedback has come recently as I solicited comments in preparation for the revised CHOP Ministry Manual that just came out. The comments have been tremendously encouraging, hearing how God has worked in participants and through them in remarkable ways. It has validated what I believe about how God uses prayer, individually and in community. The number of churches and small groups using CHOP of which I am aware continues to grow. I know of several who plan to launch the CHOP ministry in their churches with the publication of the new Manual.

WVC: How is the Manual set up? What’s different about the new Manual?

SDG: The CHOP Ministry Manual was first published in 2002. The 2007 edition reflects feedback gained from those using the first edition as well as general improve­ments. Some of the changes include: 1) placement of the Basic Training Lessons in the body of the book, 2) inclusion of a fuller presentation of the gospel as a training tool, 3) incorporation of excerpts from my book Warfare Witness: Contending With Spiritual Opposition in Everyday Evangelism (that was published in 2005 and forms the theological and practical framework for the CHOP approach) as part of the 72-page Daily Prayer Guide that introduces and reinforces principles and practices inherent in the CHOP approach, 4) thorough revi­sion of the Daily Prayer Guide to aid in strategic prayer, 5) pre-CHOP and post-CHOP guidelines, and 6) a number of stylistic and content changes throughout for ease of use.

WVC: Why is it so important to get people praying for their neighbors? What kind of things do you encourage them to pray?

SDG: Evangelism is part of being a disciple of Jesus. The call of the Great Commission is that we bear witness to the lordship of Christ “as we go,” that is, in the ordinary flow of everyday life. The element of lifestyle evangelism in CHOP reflects the principle that it is by the providence of God that we go where we go, know whom we know, work where we work, and all those other facets of the comings and goings of ordinary life. These life-spheres are our spheres of influence. These spheres I define as “those arenas of life in which God has providentially placed us, where we operate and have contacts, and where we have special opportunity to influence others for Christ.” One of the basic training lessons of the Manual has participants map out their life spheres, such as neighbors, coworkers, and family, to target people for prayer.

As for the actual prayer for those neighbors, one of the principles of CHOP is that God has ordained prayer as a means for His ends. Prayer, by His design, engages us in the accomplishment of God’s saving purposes in the lives of those around us. CHOP directs participants in prayer on behalf of others that is rich in Scripture and takes into account the reconnaissance report of our prayer contacts’ needs and the spiritual opposition we face in the evangelistic endeavor.

WVC: How does someone get involved in this effort? What does sponsoring a CHOP ministry involve? Can it fit into a local church easily?

SDG: Both the new Manual and the website provide details about how to get a CHOP ministry going. But it’s actually as simple as starting to work through the Manual. Some have used the Manual on an individual basis, apart from meeting with others in a group. That has worked in them an excitement about joining with others in the CHOP ministry and enabled them to provide leadership. The only cost is the Manual itself.

The CHOP ministry is ideal for the local church. It provides the foundation of prayer for any evangelism training program the church may use, and it helps to build and maintain an attitude as the church militant and an outpost of God’s kingdom for the advancement of the gospel.

WVC: Is CHOP intended as a kind of forerunner to, or preparation for, further house church development? Could it be? Could existing house church networks benefit from CHOP?

SDG: The mission of CHOP does not address the house church movement explicitly, but it certainly would lend itself to it. God’s house is a house of prayer. Prayer lies at the heart of the church in communion with God and service to Him. It speaks to both sanctification and service, holding a special place in community. I can see how CHOP would engage the church in Christ’s calling and keep it from becoming ingrown and ineffectual. I can also see CHOP as a tremendous tool in church planting, establishing and growing the fledging group in the incubator of prayer and helping them to have an outward emphasis from the start.

WVC: Give us some examples of the kinds of things that encourage you to persevere in this ministry?

SDG: My main encouragement is faith, believing that God blesses what He has ordained, specifically prayer. Secondarily, I am encouraged in the obedience of faith and its fruit, as I have been blessed and humbled in seeing God work to excite and involve Christ’s disciples in witness for Him.

T.M. Moore is editor of The Worldview Church.