Southwestern students gather to participate in Collegiate Day of Prayer
Students and faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Baptist College gathered to participate in the Collegiate Day of Prayer on Feb. 27, joining thousands of other students and campuses around the country taking part in the global initiative.
Records of this scheduled day of prayer on college campuses held on the last Thursday of February stretch back 200 years to 1823, first being practiced on the New England campuses of Yale, Williams, Brown, and Middlebury. Throughout the 1800s it spread as a practice eventually being recognized and practiced on around 200 campuses, before somewhat falling out of popularity during the 20th century.
In 2009, however, it experienced a resurgence and began to spread to campuses all around the nation and the world. Today, more than 3,200 campuses worldwide participate in the Collegiate Day of Prayer. The purpose of the Day of Prayer, as stated on the organization’s website, is, “If we win the spiritual battles across our nation but neglect our college campuses, all our progress will be undone in a generation. Therefore, students today need our support and earnest prayers.”
Southwestern has participated in the event in recent years as professors and campus leaders sought to bring it to the campus. Melana Monroe, the director of prayer initiatives at Southwestern, was involved in that process.
“The leaders who have been praying and organizing this event no longer refer to this generation of students as ‘Gen Z,’” said Monroe, who participated in the leadership meeting for the Collegiate Day of Prayer in College Station, where numbers were shared of thousands of students gathering on campuses to pray. “… Rather, they are calling this ‘The Revival Generation.’”
Southwestern faculty and students gathered into groups to pray for a variety of needs.
Participants followed along in times of worship and prayer with the main conference taking place in College Station on the Texas A&M campus via a simulcast, while the TBC Band led by Marc Brown, assistant professor of church music and worship, also led a time of worship.
As small groups formed around the room, voices could be heard uplifting the Lord’s name and praying for one another. Southwesterners followed guidance of the leaders in prayers of repentance, worship, supplication, and prayers for unreached campuses.
Bill Elliff, a Southwestern alumnus, author, and pastor from Little Rock, Arkansas, was one of the national event leaders who guided the participating college campuses in times of prayer.
“You may start silently, but I encourage you to pray boldly in front of others,” Elliff encouraged, as participants were guided through times of confession and prayers for revival.
Participants read Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance and forgiveness, and Ephesians 5, as they were encouraged to be a light for Christ on their college campuses.
Southwesterners in attendance were pleased with the event and enjoyed being able to pray in an intimate space with one another.
“I think it was a nice time to intentionally pray with each other,” said Lexi Turner, a music and worship studies major. “While sometimes we prayed on our own, praying in groups of three, six, or four was just a nice time to talk to the Lord together and grow closer to Him together.”
Others, like McKenzie Dahl, a music and worship studies major, enjoyed the subjects on which they were called to pray and the way it felt uniting across a wide range of college campuses with teachers and students.
“I thought all the things we got to pray about in the small groups were really great and just a good perspective shift for college students to not just think about ourselves and our college, but other colleges and other students, like us. It was cool,” McKenzie said. “And it was cool to get to do it with professors as well.”
Monroe said she enjoyed witnessing the reach of God’s Kingdom as she prayed with students from different nations and others preparing to go to other nations to bring the Gospel.
“One leader said, ‘This generation is not the future of the church. It is the church,’” Monroe said. “I loved that truth.”
