J. Tyler Klassen/Photo

Not just anyone could easily step into the role of a professional “pray-er” for more than 7,000 people, but Les Horning and Donna Mast, the Prayer Team leaders for Columbus 2009, have taken on the task.

“We are coming with an agenda to listen and to be a presence, to create safe places for people to talk,” said Horning, who has worked on the prayer ministry effort at three conventions.

For this convention, Mast and Horning have put a special effort into providing facilities for people to take a break from the bustling convention hall to pray.

A prayer room is a staple of conventions, but the design this year is much more ambitious.  As you enter the room, situated at the top of the southern escalators in the convention center, you can choose the contemplative area or the conversant area.  The contemplative area, as its name suggests, is more of a quiet place, with a large wooden cross in the center, surrounded by pillows and chairs to accommodate various postures of prayer.  A small, bubbling fountain greets you at the entrance, and there is even a mattress in the corner for the most weary conventiongoers.

The conversant room is more oriented toward group discussion and prayer, with couches around a coffee table with a selection of books such as “Here and Now, Living in the Spirit,” by Henri J.M. Nouwen and “Celebration of Discipleship” by Richard J. Foster.  A table full of modeling clay, crayons, markers and other art supplies encourages creative prayer and reflection.  A small CD player in the corner plays calm, quiet music.

Another available facility for prayer is a cloth labyrinth, laid on the floor of a room at the end of the convention center near the Hyatt.  The labyrinth was brought by Bob Yoder, one of Goshen College’s campus pastors.

Arranging the prayer room was just the beginning of Mast and Horning’s efforts to connect at the convention.  They placed baskets throughout the convention hall to accept prayer requests from adults and youth alike. Each day, the two leaders take a prayer walk, where they collect the slips of paper from the baskets and pray as they go.

“[Tuesday] we had a stack papers an inch and a half thick,” Horning marveled, demonstrating the volume of prayer requests with his thumb and forefinger. “Some of them express very deep pain and anguish, and they trust that these things will be taken care of.”

Once, when collecting prayer requests from a basket, Mast noticed some people looking at her curiously, wondering what was happening.

“When it dawned on them what we were doing, there was an expression of satisfaction — like they realized what was going on and said, ‘OK, this is good,’” Mast said.

During the year, Mast and Horning are both pastors.  Horning preaches at Christiansburg Mennonite Fellowship in Virginia, and Mast is co-pastor at Scottdale Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania.  Both are highly experienced at prayer and ministry, but for the size of this Mennonite convention, they enlisted the help of a prayer team.  Jeff Combs, Karen Howard, Luanne Yutzy, Thinagar Sitther and Elizabeth Soto Albrecht work on daily prayer responsibilities as well.

The prayer team attends each worship service, sometimes circling the room and praying, sometimes sitting on stage and always listening, trying to stay in tune with the convention, and praying for the general well being of the people.

Before their roles in prayer team leadership came along, Mast and Horning had both been delegates to conventions. When the opportunity arose to be prayer team leaders in Columbus, they jumped at it.

“I enjoy it,” Horning said.  “When I was asked to serve here at Columbus, there was no hesitation.  You’re tired at the end of the week, but I’ve seen that folks really appreciate what we do.”