Day of prayer unites Southwestern in petition for Christ-centered campus

Students, faculty, and members of the Board of Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary gathered in MacGorman Chapel for a day of prayer on April 8, focusing on the Christian virtues about which faculty have preached in chapel during the spring semester.

Organized by Melena Monroe, director of prayer ministries, for two years the day of prayer has held true to its namesake, allowing time for staff and faculty to lead participants in prayer, with the goal of calling upon the continued guidance of the Lord for the seminary as a whole. This semester the time of prayer was led by students.

Monroe said she has had opportunities to pray with different groups of students around campus, which led to her recognizing the hearts of students and their devotion to prayer.

“This year, as we were kind of talking about people to gather, somebody said, ‘You know, why don’t you let the students do it?’” Monroe said, adding the idea of letting the next generation lead out in prayer appealed to her. “… This is what we’re looking at, is it’s not the future of the church. It’s the church now. This is them.”

Students Jacob Pittman, Grace Kim, Marc Riley, Mirachal Williams, and Mariano Gongora, all took turns leading participants in prayer, some in other languages, for those involved in the seminary to be grace-filled and Christ centered through the fruits of the Spirit and other qualities discussed in the spring chapel series.

Members of the Southwestern community and the Board of Trustees gathered to pray on April 8.

“There was a strong sense of peace during the service and people commented about the sincerity of the prayers,” said Riley, a Doctor of Philosophy student from Fort Smith, Arkansas, calling it a humbling and encouraging experience. “I truly believe that each individual who prayed was offering up sincere prayers, praising God, and asking for genuine evidence of spiritual fruit to be manifested in the seminary and the people.”

Gongora, a Bachelor of Arts in Music student from Argentina, said praying in his native language of Spanish was a special moment for him after three years of adjusting to the cultural and language differences in the United States. He added it “amazes me the thought of no matter what language we speak, God hears us and understands us.”

Kim, a Ph.D. student in Christian education from Japan, led in a prayer specifically for the Board of Trustees in Korean with a translation provided to the auditorium, adding she felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.

“I was very blessed to have the opportunity to pray for our school, especially for our Board of Trustees,” Kim said. “The members indeed make important decisions for our school, so my prayer for them meant my love toward our school. I really want the best for our school, equipping spiritual leaders who would lead people to Christ through evangelism and discipleship. I see that my love toward our school has grown as I prepared for the prayer.”

Pittman, a Texas Baptist College student from San Antonio, Texas, pursuing his Bachelor of Humanities degree, said the prayers all held different tones and yet effectively portrayed their faith and devotion to the Lord.

“As I believe our goal was to ask the Lord that our fruit and works, particularly those of our trustees on this occasion, would reflect conformity to the image of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit’s work, I think we were faithful to the task,” Pittman said.

Student Jacob Pittman leads in prayer during the Prayer Chapel on April 8.

Trustee Tim Williams from South Carolina also participated, leading a prayer for God’s provision for present and future students of Southwestern, and for God’s ongoing blessings and protection for the work of the seminary.

“It’s the most moving thing I’ve done since I’ve been on the board, is to be here with you guys when you pray,” said Leon Stamm, a trustee from Louisiana. “We get kind of into the details and the minutia of trying to make the administration and the finances and all those things work. But you know, this is really what works, is the power of prayer and God giving us what we need for you guys to be successful. It’s tremendous. I was so moved.”