From Jan. 27-31, ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University hosted the second Week of Prayer of the 2024-2025 school year. An event that occurs every semester hosted by the Center for Faith Engagement, Week of Prayer is a week during which class schedules are modified to accommodate one-hour seminars every morning and, this year, evening as well. This semester’s Week of Prayer featured a hybrid version during which professors hosted the morning sessions in Pioneer Memorial Church (PMC) and student missionaries hosted the evening sessions in Lamson Hall, with the exception of the final seminar on Friday evening, which was also hosted in PMC.
An interesting new feature for this semester’s Week of Prayer has been the short prayer activity at the start of each morning seminar before the main talk. For example, on Monday morning, attendees were encouraged to call someone and pray with them, and on Wednesday morning, attendees were asked to pray together in small groups of 2 or 3 people. These interactive prayer activities aimed to foster a sense of community and personal engagement with faith before the main speaker took the stage.
Vanessa Corredera, professor of English and chair of the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Department of English, opened Week of Prayer on Monday morning with a discussion on the idea of radical love through her experiences and three stories from the book of John. The next day, Anthony Bosman, chair of the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Department of Mathematics, spoke on the power of God’s love to truly satisfy the soul. On Wednesday, Lucile Sabas, associate dean of the College of Professions, recounted her experience of letting God open doors for her as she remained faithful. On Thursday, Shawna McNeily, clinical associate professor of nursing, held an interactive speech as she invited students to actively participate with her through a Psalm 23 worksheet featuring a deeper understanding of the psalm and practical applications to set for oneself. On Friday morning, Doug Taylor, assistant professor of graphic design, discussed the idea that God knows best.
Week of Prayer ended Friday evening in PMC with a final seminar by Rodney Palmer, chair of the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Department of Religion & Biblical Languages, in which he ended the seminars by discussing how God designed us uniquely and intentionally and that we are deeply loved.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.