Various student ministries on campus have been praying by the fountain at 12:20 p.m. every Thursday.

Communication disorders major Zack Sturgill said this initially started as a one-time thing, but has continued because people have enjoyed coming together to glorify God.

“Initially, it was just going to be a one-time thing,” Sturgill said. “We invited the other ministries to take part in this with us and we all came together and prayed. We probably had like 80 people the first time, which is amazing.”

Sturgill said this is a great way for people to come together and join in prayer for the community and one another.

“It’s just awesome, everybody coming together, praying for the campus, for each other,” Sturgill said.

Social work major Doug Smith said these prayers have been interesting to be a part of because the coming together of Christians despite their denominational background is so profound.

“The very first time that we did it, there were people just standing around the fountain, kind of just looking and staring,” Smith said. “By the time that we were done, so many of those people were in it. When we first started there were just a few, but by the end the circle was so much bigger. It’s giving people an opportunity to meet people who want to get closer to God.”

Sturgill said that the energy from the Monday night services at InsideOut is what initially inspired the idea of the flash prayers.

“We have had a total of, like, 10 healings take place over the course of the semester so far,” Sturgill said. “People didn’t know healing was something God can still do. They’ve gotten completely healed and it’s been incredible. People delivered from addiction, from things like homosexuality and drugs and it’s been amazing to see God work.”

Sturgill emphasized these meetings give students the opportunity to show others they’re not just living out their faith in church.

“The reason the flash prayer is going to be so successful is because that same thing that we carry on Monday night carries over in the flash prayer,” Sturgill said. “People can not only just have the opportunity to pray for our campus so that they can be a witness to somebody else and show people that we all just live our faith out not just at church, but everywhere we go.”

Nancy Peyton can be contacted at [email protected].