How did a floundering, semi-rural church of 150 in Steinbach, Manitoba, become a flourishing regional congregation of 4500 that spawned a global church-renewal ministry? That captivating story features Ray and Fran Duerksen. Ray is a former commercial pilot with Mennonite Brethren roots who sensed God’s call to ministry, attended seminary, and, in 1984, planted a non-denominational church in Woodstock, Ontario. Through frustration and failure, Ray learned desperate prayer.
In 1995, they returned to Ray’s hometown of Steinbach to pastor Southland Church, 58 kilometres south of Winnipeg. Three previous church splits preceded their arrival! For the next 16 years, Ray discovered and applied biblical practices to renew the toxic Southland Church. He’d learn God wasn’t interested in a visitation, but a habitation. In 2012, Ray launched Church Renewal International to equip pastors with these practices. In 2017, he transferred the leadership of Southland to his son Kris, who now pastors a different church. Today, Church Renewal International mentors 3,000 pastors in 68 countries, while Ray’s other son, Stefan, pastors Southland Church.
Cultivate a Discipleship Culture of Prayer
What fueled Southland’s renewal? Ray, Fran and their devoted staff cultivated a discipleship culture of prayer throughout all ministries – children, youth, small groups, and monthly prayer summits. While Ray teaches several facets of church renewal, two interrelated ones set the agenda. Southland Church still requires them for membership, and Church Renewal offers them for pastors: 1) The Set Free! Retreat: equips people in overcoming their sin patterns – confession and sanctification; 2) The Hearing God Seminar: equips people in listening prayer – seeking God’s presence.
Ray teaches Jesus must become our functional Lord and acknowledges prayer is the hardest spiritual practice to start and sustain in a church. Yet, Southland Church continues to affirm, “Prayer is at the core of everything we do. It’s absolutely vital to corporate church growth and to sustaining the church’s momentum by releasing the Holy Spirit to work out God’s purposes. A lack of prayer causes us to rely on our own abilities and skills, making us more self-reliant. Our purpose and goal are to rely on God and his directives first.”
Practice Scripture-fed, Spirit-led Prayer
Several years ago, when I was a district minister in Alberta, I attended the Church Renewal weekend at Southland Church with a dozen of my pastors. The Set Free! Retreat offered engaging principles, similar to Neil Anderson’s Freedom in Christ material, that created opportunities in triad discussion groups for the Spirit’s work of conviction and confession in us, leading to inner healing and greater effectiveness in prayer. Then we attended the monthly church prayer summit on Sunday evening, usually held on Wednesday evening.
I was blown away! The packed auditorium buzzed with about 1200 men and women, boys and girls, youth and young adults! The well-crafted choreography of Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, and Christ-centred worship and prayer, alternating between platform-led and small-group-led prayer, was energizing. The weight of God’s tangible, manifest presence was so strong I could barely walk or talk, as I experienced sublime awe, on the verge of tears!
We offered intercessory prayer focused on key themes shown on PowerPoint at the front, along with prophetic and healing prayer in our small groups. Southland had vials of oil available for anyone to use in healing prayer for people. Trained and authorized youth and children also offered prophetic prayer to us attendees. Three teenagers prayed for me. They shared specific and accurate word pictures and Scriptures that resonated with me. For me, this was a literal “house of prayer.”
Become a House of Prayer
Jesus taught, “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Matt. 21:13). Do you experience your church as a residence of prayer, or of singing and sermons, talking and teaching? David Butts announced, “The reason most people don’t attend prayer meetings at their church is they have been to prayer meetings at their church!” Not Southland! Presence-centred prayer is the core practice for approaching and attracting God’s presence. He now inhabits the temple of his people, the Church – a house of prayer. How’s your church?
How can Southland Church, located in a semi-rural city of 18,000, attract 1200 people to a 6:30 – 8 p.m. prayer meeting? One element crackles as continual fire on the altar (Lev. 6:13) – common to all renewals and revivals. It’s God’s manifest presence, radiant glory, activated through Scripture-fed, Spirit-led prayer. Presence-centred prayer burns!
Southland Church is a Hub Church of Ignite Prayer Canada, and Church Renewal International is one of our 40 sponsors. Our vision is to see 1,000 churches across Canada cultivate cultures of Kingdom prayer – for renewal and revival. View Ray and Fran teaching our seminar on cultivating a culture of prayer, and consider registering as an Ignite Prayer Canada participant church. You’ll learn how to cultivate a culture of Kingdom prayer and flourish in church renewal!
Roger Helland serves as the prayer ambassador of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and a lead team member of Ignite Prayer Canada. He’s the author of seven books, including Pursuing God’s Presence, available on Amazon.ca
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