Joining TBMB staff as prayer catalyst, Duggin ready to help ‘lay the foundation’
FRANKLIN — What is a prayer catalyst?
Primarily, it’s a person who is helping the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board bathe everything it does in prayer. But Nancy Duggin will also tell you it’s a person who is ready at-hand to help a church start a revival at the sound of an ‘amen.’
“It’s going to cover anything and everything you can think of when it comes to prayer and helping Tennesseans,” said Duggin. “I know the big goal is that we will not stop until every Tennessean hears the gospel. There’s no revival in all of history that I’m aware of where the foundation wasn’t laid with prayer.”
The TBMB hasn’t had a designated person focused on prayer in about a decade. But with the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s two rails of vision consisting of collaboration and prayer, the need became apparent.
“Prayer has played a significant role in the Acts 2:17 visioning process from the beginning,” said Steve Holt, church services director for TBMB. “It was obvious to all of those who were involved in Acts 2:17 that prayer needed to be a constant emphasis as we moved into the implementation phase.”
Duggin’s position will be responsible for developing tools, resources, and communication strategies that will focus attention first on the Lord and then on the vision of working together as Tennessee Baptists.
Duggin said she also plans to develop an intercessory prayer group, provide guidance to churches on establishing prayer ministries, and generally work to reignite a culture of prayer among Tennessee Baptists.
“We have a really big goal in front of us when we look at the mission, vision and values,” Duggin said. “If we’re going to be able to do this and do it well, and to fulfill things like the Acts 2:17 initiative, we need to have calls for repentance — for people to really come together and get honest about what it means to repent, confess and be aware of what the Holy Spirit’s saying to them in their life.”
Ultimately, her goal is to be a trustworthy source, someone that will be an advocate and encourager for churches.
“We want to equip our Tennessee Baptists. We want to encourage them. We’re not here to point fingers that we haven’t been praying, but to help reignite that fire in their belly, so to speak,” she said. “We don’t need to start being critical of what’s going on in our churches, but we do need to be honest about where there’s need and room for growth.”
With prayer and repentance serving as crucial foundations for revival, Duggin believes that the TBMB is poised to make a significant impact through a renewed focus on prayer.
A Murfreesboro native, Duggin is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and attends Belle Aire Baptist Church. She’ll tell you she’s been a Southern Baptist since “before she was born.”
She has a deep passion for prayer and has been praying for God to use her in significant ways for His kingdom work. Previously, she has conducted prayer journaling classes, has led prayer retreats for over 35 years, in addition to serving on a TBC work group on prayer last year.
So, when the role for “prayer catalyst” arose at TBMB, Duggin felt called to pursue it. “I feel very humbled to even be in this position. It’s an answer to prayer on my part,” Duggin said. “I’m very excited to get on the ground.”
She cites Psalm 68:28, which calls for summoning God’s power, as a verse that highlights God’s authority and the need to draw upon His strength through prayer.
“Prayer and knowledge of the Bible are the two greatest weapons of warfare,” she said. “We’ve got to pray bold prayers because Scripture tells us we enter into His throne room, and we need to enter with boldness. Because if we’re praying with a heart that has come asking for forgiveness, God’s going to listen to us. And He doesn’t care if we speak in broken sentences.”
This is why she emphasizes aligning prayers with Scripture, all while entering God’s presence with wonder and humility and overcoming the fear of corporate prayer.
“God listens when we pray His own words back to Him,” she said.
“If we’re praying and we’re seeking His face and His will and not our own, then God’s going to bring us to be on the same page. There’s going to be unity there.” B&R