Charles Ramsey
This year, Baylor will host the global broadcast for Collegiate Day of prayer, a gathering for prayer and worship focused on college students. Charles Ramsey, Director for Campus Ministries & Church Connections and Associate Chaplain in Baylor Spiritual Life, has worked with organizations across campus and throughout the community in preparation for the event. In this Baylor Connections, Ramsey shares the heart behind the day, examines the importance of community prayer and considers the significance of the spiritual focus throughout the Baylor community.
Transcript
Derek Smith:
Hello and welcome to Baylor Connections. A conversation series with the people shaping our future. Each week we go in depth with Baylor leaders, professors, and more, discussing important topics in higher education, research and student life. I'm Derek Smith. And today we are visiting with Charles Ramsey, director for Campus Ministries and Church Connections and Associate Chaplain in Baylor Spiritual life. A Baylor alum, Dr. Ramsey spent most of his adult life in international ministry in Asia before returning to his alma mater. We're going to talk about that role and about the 2024 Collegiate Day of Prayer.
On February 29th, Baylor will serve as the originating site for this year's Collegiate day of prayer broadcast in conjunction with local churches and college ministry leaders. Collegiate Day of Prayer, which started in 1823, is developed into an evening worship and prayer service focused on college-age students, traditionally held on a university campus and live-streamed around the world. It's a great day each year and exciting to have at a Baylor. I know a lot of people have been putting in a lot of work on this, including you, and we're excited to hear about that and more. Dr. Ramsey, thanks so much for joining us today.
Charles Ramsey:
Thank you. I'm just delighted to be here. And I'm a huge, huge fan of this program and of KWBU, and really honored to be here. I think when I first heard about Collegiate Day of Prayer, it was one of those interesting concepts, but I had no idea of just what a big deal it actually is. What goes into bringing this together, the potential for collaboration across Baylor and across the city, but even to networks across the country. So it's been an amazing journey to be a part, and I think we chose the word carefully and we said, we are humbled to have the opportunity to host this broadcast and to be... Humbly saying this, but at the center of what's going on this year, it's really an amazing opportunity for Baylor.
Derek Smith:
What surprised you about it? What's distinct about the organization around and the goals of Collegiate Day of Prayer?
Charles Ramsey:
Well, when you think about the story, it's something that came out of the really the Ivy Leagues 200 years ago, and it was a student movement that in all our church history books and we read about the flourishing of Christianity in America, we look back to some of these leadership movements among students and young adults. Things like the Haystack Revival or the volunteer movement that really launched many of the famous ministries that we've heard of and know of and who've had a global footprint that came out of student movements.
And a lot of times we don't realize the impact of these student movements in revitalizing the church and establishing vision for the decades that follow. So this wasn't something that was on my radar, but as I started hearing the invitation and going back and studying it was fascinating to see just how God works through young people, their willingness, their availability, their courage, their responsiveness. And so at Baylor right now, we're coming into that story and discovering that we actually have deep roots within that as well.
Derek Smith:
It's interesting. It's neat to hear you say you're still discovering the impact of young people in these movements. As someone who works with young people, is that fun for you to discover things like that in the role you're in?
Charles Ramsey:
Oh, it absolutely is. And I've been at Baylor since 2017, and in the summer that I got here, someone from our church handed me a book. I'd never heard anything about, and it was about the student revivals that happened here in the 1940s and fifties. And that really caught my imagination, because it tells in the story the role of the BSU director, the Baptist Student Union director, and that was the position that I was in. And they called him Coach. And his job was mainly to try to keep up with these students, because they were so dynamic in their leadership and in their vision and their excitement for what God was doing in their time.
And as I started reading about that, I realized that's the mood that I've stepped in here too. It's not something that I brought or something that I'm stirring up, but the same type of comments I was hearing from those students, that same responsiveness to God, that same desire to go deeper in prayer and to really lift their heads and to say what could happen in my life and in our generation if we look to God and a new way.
And so I started reading that book, and it really opened my mind to some of the deep history that we have here at Baylor and just the renewals that happen in society as young people are awakened to the goodness of God and the great potential that could be in saying yes to God as they move forward.
Derek Smith:
Visiting with Charlie Ramsey. And Charlie February 29th, it's going to originate outside Waco Hall. Students are going to be a part. So there's the broadcast, but there's a lot of other streams of this as you've worked with other people. So let me ask you, who all is involved in these efforts? I know there's the national organization, but let's keep it Waco and Baylor-centric.
Charles Ramsey:
Great. Well, when we started looking at Waco, it began with Spiritual Life Office, which is part of student life and of course in marketing communications. And we received the invitation from every campus, which is an organization, really a national collaborative, over 120 campus ministries. So these are names that you'll recognize, such as Cru, which is Campus Crusade for Christ or RUF and Student Mobilization and BSM. You start looking at everyone that's a part of that, and what are they doing? They're finding ways to collaborate and say, if we shared resources, if we came together, what could we accomplish that's greater than what we could do by ourselves? And so there are several meetings like this that happen throughout the year, and prayer seems to be one where everyone can recognize their need to grow more and also the untapped treasure that's there. Usually when we come together in a posture of prayer and a humility, there's ways to work together.
And as we do that, we recognize that there's a huge need in college campus all across America for a presence, for a Christian presence, for the church to be active and engaged on these campuses. There are some places like Baylor where the church is so present and just thriving and flourishing, but there are many campuses, even here in Waco, where there is very little engagement, where we can't point and say There is a committed Christian organization or a church that said, we will adopt this campus and we will pray for them. We'll serve them. We'll find ways to welcome them to our church and to be available to that university. And so what this does on the local level is it causes us to ask those questions. What could we do if we came together in prayer? So at the invitation from every campus and their partnership with the Collegiate Day of Prayer, they came to us and said, what's your story?
Said, we're on a 200-year story of campuses coming together in prayer and of churches coming together in prayer. What's the Baylor story and how can we amplify that or how can we tell that story? And that was a very compelling conversation starter for us. Because it wasn't them coming and saying, if you'll do A plus B, then you'll get C. Or, Hey, we want you to import what we've done because this is going to lead to the next Asbury revival. There was none of that at all. It was a very open space conversation that said, what's God doing at Baylor? We have a sense that there's great things happening here. What could we learn from that? And what journey could you go on in bringing this about? So from that posture, our two offices, marketing communication and student life, we sat down and started talking through what could be done.
And, of course, we're able to reach out to the 61 churches that are active on Baylor through our church fair and through ongoing partnerships. So we immediately reached out to them, inviting them to the activities. We also have 40 campus ministries here at Baylor. These are chartered student organizations that host over a thousand events throughout the year. I mean, there's stuff literally happening every day. And that doesn't include those pastoral moments, those conversations, or even those small bible studies that are happening among friends. So it's a dynamic group of people. And part of what my office does, it's to try to steward those relationships and to look ahead a little bit and say, what could we do if we collaborated here? And so Collegiate Day of Prayer is just one of those great examples of what can be done through this collaboration.
Derek Smith:
We are visiting with Charles Ramsey here on Baylor Connections. So you've been working with local churches, campus ministries. What are some of the moments, as you and I are talking, and as this airs, we are really just about a week out from Collegiate Day of Prayer. What are some of the moments working together with students, with local churches that you're like, man, I'm really glad this brought us all together here to do this.
Charles Ramsey:
When I came in 2017, something that really shaped my thinking was the vibrancy of our campus ministries and our collegiate ministries within churches. And whenever you come in to a new context as I did, I come in asking, where's God already at work? Where am I already seeing great things happening and how do I join into that? And so I humbly reached out to many of those campus ministers and said, could we have breakfast? Could we just talk? I want to hear what's working and how could I serve you? And out of those early conversations we met at Mission Waco, which was so important to my collegiate experience and my time at Church and Bridge. We met there at Jubilee Center for Breakfast, and that became our regular breakfast place. And we'd meet and we'd celebrate where we're seeing breakthroughs. We'd lament where things had gone wrong or where there was difficulties.
And in a sense, out of the strength of those relationships, we began to imagine what we could do if we didn't emphasize our own brand or our own particular ministry. But instead, we had a Kingdom focus that said, what could we do to ensure that every student at Baylor received an invitation to grow in their faith, an invitation to know Jesus, an invitation to find a community of practice, a place where they could discern what's next and how to live well while they're time at Baylor. And from us, that shared vision, I think that others started joining in until the table continued to grow. And then I think part of the reason we're able to bring events like this to pass is because we have such a strong network of relationships that persists throughout the years, but really becomes evident in things like Fountain Mall 72, FM-72, which this is our fifth year of doing that.
It's become a major spring event at Baylor where sometimes at McLean Stadium, but sometimes at Fountain Mall as it was named, students for four nights in a row will gather for worship and teaching. But perhaps even more importantly than that, they'll have 72 hours of consistent prayer in a tent that's set up on Fountain Mall. And that continues to grow from strength to strength. And from everything I can see this year, it'll again be an amazing time for our students to come together to take that deep breath, to take a pause, to seek God for what's ahead. And I continue to hear story after story throughout the year of lives that were impacted, yes, by what's set on the stage, yes, by the songs, but perhaps most importantly by the prayers late into the night in the prayer tent.
Derek Smith:
Visiting with Charles Ramsey, director for Campus Ministries and Church Connections and Associate Chaplain in Baylor's Spiritual life here on Baylor Connections today. And Charlie, as we talk about this idea of community prayer, people coming together at Baylor and around the nation, around the world, maybe for people from a different faith background or no faith background, the idea of community prayer, what's so important about it? Maybe people sense there's always something meaningful about gathering together, but just take us through why that's so important and what the meaning of that is for people who might not have experienced that?
Charles Ramsey:
That's a great question. And I would say humbly that I'm new to it myself. I think as we look at what's going on at Baylor, what we're saying within our ethos that we're creating, what we're saying within spiritual life is that it is vital for you to consider the spiritual life, to consider your inner world. So whatever your background is, wherever you've come from, wherever you're at, we want to create an environment to where you're going to ask questions and you're going to explore that inner world. Because, we're convinced that that is essential for your wellbeing and essential for your future. If you don't address it now, then it'll address you later. So we want to create an environment where every student, wherever they've come from, has an opportunity to do that. And so before we talk about the particular prayer environments, I think you want to think of Baylor as a space where spiritual life happens all across campus.
It happens in the cafeterias and in the workout rooms. It happens in the classrooms. So we're very intentional about creating an environment where faith is front and center to all that we do, right? It's in the fabric of Baylor. When we come together in prayer, there's this unknown as to what's going to happen. Are we going to sit in silence? Is there going to be a new thought, a new idea? What is going to happen? And the truth about prayer is that we don't know. The truth about prayer is that it's a journey of discovery. It's about making space. And if anything, putting our yes before God and saying, I don't know exactly where we're going from here, but I'm attentive to you. I'm present to you.
And in doing that, I think it opens us up to see what's coming, to discern what's next, to be responsive to God. And I think that's why we think of the adventure of prayer. We are very rich in teaching. We are very rich in information. There's so much coming in. What we tend to be lacking is a time for what's already in there to bubble up or to have a sense of communing with God and hearing what he has for us.
Derek Smith:
So as we look ahead to the 29th, if people attend at Waco Hall, if they're watching, what should they expect to see and experience?
Charles Ramsey:
We need to remember that we've had a tremendous shift in culture over the past 50 years. And if you're not familiar with how young people worship, if you're not familiar with the college scene and young adults, then you might be surprised. It's going to be high energy. There's going to be a worship band, there's going to be a choir up there, but it's maybe not the traditional choir that you're familiar with. It's more of a praise and worship. So you're going to see 50 to 70 students up on the stage in a choir. You're going to see a worship band with eight to 10 worship leaders. Most of these are students or recent graduates. And I think that's, again, it's an opportunity to showcase some of the incredible talent we have here at Baylor and in Waco from our local churches and campus ministries. So you're going to have times of corporate song, but you're also going to have these prayer prompts.
So we have students, again, who are going to come up and are going to give a brief word of testimony and invite those in the audience and those who are live-streaming this, whether it's from their home or from a different campus, and literally from locations around the world as this is broadcast into Asia and Africa and Latin America and Europe, to join in prayer and interceding for this generation. That's the heart of it, is to have prayer prompts. And we're going to break up into small groups within Waco Hall. So sometimes you'll pray by yourself, sometimes you'll form up in a small circle. And that's exactly what you'll be doing through the live broadcast as well. Is responding to the scripture that's read, responding to the prayer prompt that's given, responding to the testimony that's provided by a student to join them in prayer.
Derek Smith:
Visiting with Charles Ramsey. And Charlie, a question that as I ask you, I realize the importance of it because I know a little bit about your story. You painted a picture at the beginning of the show of the impact of young people in movements and revivals around the world. And it's corporate, it's groups, but it's also individuals. And I'm curious for you, as you work with this generation, how much does your own story of faith in college drive you, shape you, and have you even more excited for things like this?
Charles Ramsey:
Oh, very much so. I think many of us come to Christian colleges because of our homes, because of our families, we grow up in church, and it's a vital time of discerning and discovering your own faith. And I think there's a lot of students who have a journey like mine who came here with youthful faith, but they collide with the questions, with the reality of the world, and the sad and pain of the world. And as they do that, they have to come to a place of deciding for themselves and of grappling with their own faith. And that was my story. It was really the end of my junior year here at Baylor that things settled for me. And that I would say that God broke in into a new way, and I discovered a calling. We have a sense of, yes, I could have gone anywhere and done many different things, but when you have a sense that the Lord of the universe knows your name and is calling you into ministry with him and into a greater purpose, that's the kind of things that'll wreck you for life in a wonderful way.
And that I think all of us pray for. As Christians, we pray for the incredible honor of being called, having a sense of direction and purpose and service to others and to the church and to the community at large. I mean, that's at the heart of Baylor, "Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana". We want to be bright lights and we want to send out bright lights from here into service, and to service as our university mission says both locally but globally as well. And so for me, that was Baylor. And that experience of being here and being challenged by fellow students, by being mentored by faculty members who had grappled with the questions that were troubling me, but had come out on the other side with a faith that was not just in the emotions, but had moved from the head and into the heart and into some lasting decisions.
And so that made a huge difference in my life. And coming back to Baylor, it's a joy to see that God is very much at work here, and he's very much stirring questions and answers among students in powerful ways. And I just believe that Baylor has an incredible talent pool. I can't think of a more vibrant, engaged, dynamic group of young people on the planet. I would stack Baylor up with anywhere for leadership potential in society, in the marketplace, and in the church. And so getting to walk with these students is amazing. It's such a privilege to me. And I mean, daily, I'm blown away by the people I get to rub shoulders with and walk with. And incredibly honored along the way to maybe even just look at them and say, yes, yes, yes, keep going. Or Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can we talk? But to walk with them in that discernment of faith and of purpose.
And that's for everybody. That's for everybody. We have a tremendous talent pool of Christians that are coming through here. But Baylor's an international university. And on a daily basis, I'm sitting with students from many different faith traditions, many different faith backgrounds, and I hear over and over from them that they find Baylor to be welcoming, to be encouraging of them in their own journey, to be responsive to their needs and supportive as they discern their own journey. And that's very much our hope. Is to come into a space that can say, we're going to be excellent in our academics. We're going to be excellent in our athletics, in the arts, and in everything we do, but we're going to be a caring community. And I think we hold ourselves to that standard. I see that within our campus ministries. I see that within our spiritual life organization as a commitment to be a caring community that wants to see every student, regardless of where they've come from, come into a space where they can encounter God and where they can ask questions about their own journey and their own destinies.
Derek Smith:
Well, that's a great picture that you paint. And as we come to the end of our time together here, I want to ask you, spiritual life resources throughout the year or National Collegiate Day of Prayer coming up on the 29th, what's the easiest way for people if they want to dig in just a little bit or learn more the best ways to do that?
Charles Ramsey:
So at the Baylor website, if you go to the spiritual life page, you'll see a Collegiate Day of prayer link there. And it has a prayer guide to where you can join us. We've been praying for 40 days now in preparation to this. And there's prayer prompts in that. There is the link. So you can join us on the 29th and watch. Wherever you are, you can join us in prayer and praying for this generation and praying for Baylor. Within that, there's also an opportunity for you to share a prayer request. If there's things that are happening in your home, or in your life, we'd love to pray for you.
And then we'd also, again, through Instagram and Facebook, if you follow those, you're able to see ways that we're engaging local churches and people from the Waco community and praying for student prayer requests that have been provided. And again, our invitation is that you join us in this. We see this as a prayer meeting for all of Baylor. We would love to see alumni wherever you are around the world. We'd love to see families of current students and of future students joining us in this time of really celebration and intercession of hope for what's ahead, but of delight and thankfulness in what God's doing and what God promises to do.
Derek Smith:
Charlie, thanks so much for taking the time to share with us today and join us, and we look forward to seeing what's ahead.
Charles Ramsey:
Thank you, Derek. Such a privilege to be with you.
Derek Smith:
Charles Ramsey, Director of Campus Ministries and Church Connections and Associate Chaplain in Baylor Spiritual Life. Our guest today on Baylor Connections. I'm Derek Smith. Reminder, you can hear this and other programs online, baylor.edu/connections, and you can subscribe on iTunes. Thanks for joining us here on Baylor Connections.