Representative Prayer

Definition and Meaning

Representative prayer is a prayer offered in public worship by one person on behalf of the congregation. Because it is offered before many people, it is also called public prayer (gongjung gido). The person praying voices the thanksgiving, repentance, and petitions of the whole community rather than personal wishes, while the congregation joins in spirit and expresses its agreement at the end with "Amen."

Biblical and Historical Background

The Old Testament records Solomon praying on behalf of the people at the dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8), and the New Testament records believers who "lifted up their voice to God with one accord" (Acts 4:24). First Timothy 2:1 exhorts that "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." According to the second-century account of Justin Martyr, in the worship of the early church the presiding minister prayed and the congregation responded with "Amen." After the Reformation, free prayer offered by the minister in place of fixed liturgical texts became an important element of worship in the Reformed and Puritan traditions.

Practice in Korean Churches

In Korean churches, representative prayer is often entrusted to lay officers. In many churches, an elder usually leads it at the main Sunday service, while a kwonsa (senior deaconess) or a deacon leads it at Sunday evening and Wednesday services or at cell group meetings; the assignments are announced in advance in the church bulletin. The prayer typically proceeds through praise and thanksgiving, repentance, prayer for the nation and the church, prayer for the sermon and the preacher, and intercessory prayer for the sick and those in difficulty. Those who pray often write out their prayers in advance and read them. Concerns are frequently raised within churches that such prayers should not become overly long or drift into preaching.

Across denominations, free representative prayer by laypeople is common in many traditions, including Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, and Baptist churches. Baptist churches and others that emphasize congregational participation sometimes explain the practice in connection with the principle of the priesthood of all believers. Full Gospel churches often include a time of praying aloud together alongside representative prayer. Because the Anglican Church of Korea chiefly uses the prescribed prayers of its Book of Common Prayer, representative prayer offered as free prayer by a layperson is comparatively rare there. Some churches place a "pastoral prayer" offered by the pastor in the order of worship instead of a lay representative prayer.