Pastoral Prayer

At church we do something I've never experienced before. They call it the Pastoral Prayer. About once a month (I don't keep track), a congregation member will go to the podium and lead the congregation in prayer. The prayer varies in theme, but it always includes confession of corporate sin, worship, and various requests concerning the entire church. It's pretty neat. It makes me feel like a realy part of the body of the church even though I'm fairly new and aren't a member.