Prayer in the Square event covers campus in prayer
Lacey Klotz |
Lipscomb’s Bison Square, located in the heart of campus, is typically a place where students come together in community to eat, play games and mingle in between classes. On Thursday, Oct. 27, students gathered for another reason – to pray, worship and ask God to transform hearts as part of the Student Government Association’s Prayer in the Square event.
Prayer in the Square is an event that is held each semester and creates an open space for students to pray and build relationships with others and with the Father, said Jackson Smith, SGA president.
"The vision behind Prayer in the Square was to bring one of the most precious gifts we have been given, and not hide it away, but instead bring it to the center of our campus,” said Smith. “It has been incredible the ways that God has shown up when we simply call on Him."
This year’s theme was “pray continually” and came from 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Six stations were set up to help students focus their prayer time on where they were from as well as our campus, city, state, nation and our world.
The hope was that students would gain a deeper spiritual understanding of the world around them and engage that brokenness through prayer, said Gabby Cannone, spiritual committee chair for Lipscomb’s SGA and campus ministry intern.
“We gathered to cover our campus in prayer because the Lord wants to continue to transform Lipscomb's campus, students, faculty and this city,” said Cannone. “We also gathered to ask the Lord with expectation to come and continue to be the heart of this campus, to inspire us and to let Lipscomb be known for the ways the Lord is transforming our hearts individually but also collectively as a campus to be a light in this world for His Kingdom.
Cannone, who helped coordinate the event, says that although this event is entirely student led, the Office of Campus Ministry contributed as sounding boards and sources of encouragement, wisdom, support and guidance to continue to expand the vision and depth of Prayer in the Square.
“As a campus minister, it warms my heart to watch our students lead and minister to each other and be the ones who are intentionally shaping the spiritual climate on campus,” said Cyrus Eaton, campus minister and director of the Mentoring Program. “I'm really proud of our students and how they are choosing to invest back into the university."
Josh Roberts echoed Eaton’s sentiment adding it is important that our campus takes the time in a public way to demonstrate where our hope is found and that we rely solely on the power and wisdom of Jesus to help shape our campus, community, our world and our relationships.
"Prayer is a gift from God, an invitation into a relationship with God and a powerful tool for learning about our values and God's heart,” said Roberts. “Yesterday's Prayer in the Square event was a beautiful display of hundreds of students boldly asking God to show us all where to take our next step."
Lipscomb’s SGA will hold another Prayer in the Square event in spring 2017 to continue to provide opportunities for Lipscomb students to intercede for others through prayer.
For more information on Lipscomb’s SGA, visit: www.lipscomb.edu/sga.
- Photos by Andrew Nelson