[1]BURLESON, Texas (BP) – As students mark the 35th anniversary of See You at the Pole (SYATP) on Sept. 24, organizers are teaming with the National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM) and others to engage students and supporters in an extended season of prayer.
A fall “Symphony of Prayer” launched in August to lift the concerns of students attending schools and confined to juvenile justice centers, daily prayerwalks and weekly prayer gatherings on school grounds are among events surrounding the student-birthed initiative, SYATP spokesperson Doug Clark told Baptist Press.
“Many ministries are collaborating to pray for schools,” said Clark, who is also NNYM national field director. “Our goal is that every one of 56,000 middle and high schools and 1,200 juvenile justice facilities in the U.S. will be covered in prayer.”
Awe is the theme for this year’s SYATP, based on the prophet’s proclamation in Habakkuk 3:2, “Lord I am filled with awe.”
Decades of prayer for younger generations is bearing fruit with a vibrant spiritual hunger among Gen Z in particular, Clark said in a social media post, referencing Barna research [2]. The American Bible Society’s annual State of the Bible [3] has also found a growth in Gen Z Christian engagement.
Pastors, parents, youth leaders, teachers and students are encouraged to participate in Symphony of Prayer, a call for unified prayer this fall with an events guide and additional resources available at nnym.org/symphony [4].
Claim Your Campus, a ministry aimed at training and engaging a million students in weekly prayer meetings and prayer walks at middle and high schools, offers an app, prayerwalking guide and other resources at ClaimYourCampus.com [5].
Annually on the fourth Thursday in September, at least a million students have gathered at flagpoles and other venues before the school day in the U.S. and dozens of other countries, praying for personal and national concerns. Churches and homeschooled students also participate.
See You at the Pole launched in 1991. The movement grew from a DiscipleNow weekend in Burleson, Texas, in early 1990 when a small group of teenagers drove to three area schools, stood under flagpoles and prayed for schools, leaders and friends.
Word of the Burleson event spread, drawing 45,000 students in prayer at flagpoles in four states in September 1990, and a million at school flagpoles in September 1991, according to event promoters. Today, events are held in Canada, Korea, Japan, Turkey, the Ivory Coast and beyond, with students “responding to God and taking seriously the challenge to pray,” promoters have said.
Several Southern Baptist organizations support SYATP [6], including Lifeway Christian Resources, the North American Mission Board’s GenSend, Texas Baptists’ Youth Evangelism (Baptist General Convention of Texas), and the Youth Lab at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Among other supporters are the Alliance Defending Freedom, the American Center for Law and Justice, the Christian Broadcasting Network, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Decision Magazine, Cru and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
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