2026 Annual Conference

Concert of Prayer

“And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying…” Revelation 5:7-9

Each day of our conference begins with a “Concert of Prayer.” We aim to fill the room with the prayers of His people as a pleasing offering of incense to the Lord. Richmond Presiding Elder John Bright and his team will help lead us in this time of invitation to the Holy Spirit, praise to the Lord of Hosts, and prayer for His creation. This hour of prayer is an invitation for the whole congregation to open themselves to the Spirit and share what they are hearing from Him.

Be prepared to speak the words He gives you to pray over the conference, your churches, your leaders, and your people. Sing the psalms He may suggest. Raise your hands or drop prostrate as the Holy Spirit intercedes through you with groaning. Methodists have a deep and rich heritage of Holy Spirit-filled prayer, supplication, and transformation. We fully expect God to continue this inbreaking of His kingdom and presence in our generation as we seek His will and equipping for the people of the Global Methodist Church of Virginia.

Each day, during this time together we will focus on a specific area in support of our daily teaching theme. Thursday John will lead us in prayers around Walking in Faith as we remember we are children of the King. Friday, we will lift prayers focused on Walking in the Spirit as we invite the Holy Spirit to transform us into mature citizens of the Kingdom. Saturday, we will entreat the Lord around Walking in the World as we anticipate His sending us out as ambassadors of His Kingdom. Join us with willing and hungry hearts during this time of preparation for the work of the day.

Altar Prayer

The Old and New Testaments are filled with passages of God's people praying over one another, anointing one another, and laying hands on one another for healing, commissioning, and blessing. Methodism has a rich history of following these examples in Scripture when they come together in worship and come to the altar. We invite you to join us in this rich tradition as we prepare a team to meet you in worship.

A team of lay and clergy altar prayer ministers who are preparing to listen for the Holy Spirit and pray for all those who come in response to His call. We expect the Holy Spirit to inhabit His people in our days together, and we expect Him to meet us in our repentence, our supplication, our submission and our rejoicing. We stand ready to join with you in prayer, intercede on your behalf, and seek God's face with you.

During each session in the main sanctuary the altar team will have oil, hands, and hearts available to meet you at the altar. We encourage you to listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit as you worship and hear the Word of the Lord. And we encourage you to come with open and expectant hearts when He leads to to respond to His call.

If your heart fills with joy and your eyes fill with tears at the opportunity to pray with those who come to the altar of God, we would love to have you on our team. 

Prayer Guide and Zoom

We would also love to have you join us in our Virginia Conference Prayer Meetings. Every other week on Mondays at noon people from across the conference gather together on Zoom to pray for our conference, our leaders, our mission partners, and whatever else the Lord lays on our hearts. There is a brief time of devotion, a time of guided prayer as a large group, and then a time of small group prayer where we break into groups of 5-6 people to pray for one another. This is an ongoing ministry and it is always a great blessing to join our brothers and sisters across the conference between our gatherings. We would love to see you there!

If you would like to receive an invitation to the Prayer Zoom or subscribe to the newsletter to be sure you don't miss the prayer guide when it comes out, please visit our subscription page and select which information you would like to receive.