First prayer gathering of semester focuses on new and returning students

Nearly 40 faculty, staff, and students gathered in the rotunda of the B.H. Carroll Memorial Complex on Aug. 3, to pray for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in preparation for the start of the new academic year.

“In many ways, the fall semester begins this week,” President David S. Dockery said following the gathering, expressing excitement over the campus prayer gatherings continuing after a summer break. “It was wonderful to see so many people in the Rotunda this morning to begin the new term in prayer, doing so with a recognition of our ongoing dependence on the Lord.”

The meeting began with those gathered singing the hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” followed by Dockery explaining the key focus of the first prayer gathering of the semester was to pray for both new and returning students, for faculty and staff, and to give thanks for all God has done. He also requested prayer for His ongoing blessings and favor for Southwestern. 

Dean Sieberhagen, dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, prayed that God would work out all the details for the incoming students and for God to help the students find a church home. Other faculty and staff also gave thanks for some of the work God has been doing through camps and mission trips over the summer, while others prayed specifically for the students of Texas Baptist College, for the international students, and for the new student orientation.

Dockery expressed his gratitude for the meeting, which has been held for the past four years since Oct. 3, 2022, after he was appointed the interim president of Southwestern Seminary that September.

“For four years, we have asked the Lord to renew the Southwestern campus and to restore His favor to the Southwestern campus, asking Him to bless the shared work of our hands,” Dockery said. “We will continue to do so, even as we give thanks for all the Lord has done for Southwestern in recent years, in accord with our theme verse for the year.”

Each year, Dockery has announced a theme verse to represent a focus for the year based on what God was doing at Southwestern Seminary. During the Seminary’s Board of Trustees meeting in April, Dockery announced the 2026-2027 academic year’s theme verse as Psalm 126:3, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

Dockery expressed his gratitude for Melana Monroe, director of prayer ministries, and the work she has accomplished with the prayer meetings over the years.

“We are grateful to Melana Hunt Monroe for her excellent leadership for the prayer initiative across the campus over the past four years,” Dockery said. “The Lord has used this time to help unite the hearts of faculty, staff, and students around our shared mission and, moreover, around our deep dependence on the Lord for His enablement to carry out that mission in a faithful way each and every day.”

The time of prayer ended with W. Madison Grace II, provost and senior vice president for academic administration, praying specifically for student orientation, the deans’ retreat, and other faculty meetings and workshops coming up.

“We ask for Your wisdom to continue to guide us and lead us in all of the responsibilities that we have here at Southwestern so that we’re accomplishing Your real end goal,” Grace prayed. “Help us move out of the way and allow You to do the work that You can do. … I pray for the faculty, and that You would give them wisdom, You would give them grace, to help them be Christ centered in all they do, to focus on the students that You bring here.”

The weekly prayer meeting will be held every Monday at 11:30 a.m., with the exception of Labor Day and the week of Fall Reading Days, in the B.H. Carroll Memorial Complex Rotunda. Students and faculty are also invited to pray at 10:40 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays prior to chapel services, which will resume Aug. 25.

Prayer requests and prayer guides can be found here.

A corporate time of missional prayer, Pray for the Nations, hosted by the World Missions Center (WMC), will also be held weekly starting on Aug. 26. Each week the group will focus on praying for a different country, region, or people group. The meetings will be held every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. in the Fireside Room of the Naylor Student Center.