Anna Gindlesperger
Reporter
November 5, 2004
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Students gathered Monday and Tuesday in the SGA conference room to pray. Students typically enter one at a time to pray. The vigil went throughout Monday night until Tuesday afternoon. |
-Photo by Andrew Stauffer |
Flickering candles gave off little light as Milligan students entered the silent SGA conference room to pray Monday evening and throughout the day Tuesday. Pillows and Bibles lay on the floor, and a few pieces of paper were scattered randomly throughout the room on which students had written their thoughts, prayers or simply a verse.
Students were requested to sign up in specific fifteen minute time slots to
pray, beginning Monday evening at 9 p.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday. Other students
signed up to work the table set outside the SGA conference room to encourage
students who walked by to participate.
Despite their usual sleeping habits, several students chose to pray in the early
hours of Tuesday morning.
“I think as Christians here at Milligan we have done a lot to support one side
or the other in the election, but it is important not to leave God out of it,”
said Matthew Shedd, a freshmen who chose to pray at 3 a.m. “I prayed that our
church would become more active in shaping our nation in the upcoming years;
that we would be united in attempting to make this country morally sound again.”
Though set on the day of the election, the prayer vigil’s purpose went beyond
simply praying for the country’s next president.
Juniors Beth Harkey and Isaac Shade, co-chairs of Campus Ministry, along with
Nathan Flora, Milligan’s campus minister, stated, “On a day when people across
our nation will be voting, making gestures of faith and trust in the leadership
and future of this nation, we are setting aside this time on our campus to
remind Christians that, regardless of if you vote or who you vote for, as
Christians our gesture and act of faith is that of prayer. We are to put our
trust and hope for the future in the leadership of God and the church.”
The idea for this prayer vigil arose at an SGA meeting two weeks ago where
students talked about ways to encourage the prayer life on campus.
“I believe that our prayer life as college students is vital and not always
existent or realized as the priority that it is,” said Harkey. “I think we would
be surprised at the spiritual growth on campus if we are faithful in prayer, so
any attempt we can make to encourage people to pray in such a way as the prayer
vigil, we will make.”
“Although this prayer vigil falls on election day in America, I do not think
that this was the motivation,” said Flora. “This prayer vigil is more for the
sake of spiritual discipline than for a special purpose.”
“We hope to do more [prayer vigils],” said Harkey, “and even to let other
students be in charge of organizing them. We want to get more people involved.”