Campus America: Q & A with Trent Sheppard

Published: January 19th, 2009

Q: So, what is Campus America?

A: Well, it’s pretty simple really.  Campus America is an initiative of 24-7 to call every campus in the United States into a year of non-stop prayer throughout 2010.  

The vision is an unbroken chain of intercession – representing young and old, students and professors, brand new communities of faith and long established collegiate ministries – ultimately linking every campus in the country together in a year of prayer. 

Q: And you’re seriously aiming for every campus in the U.S.?

A: Yep, that’s exactly what we’re aiming for.  In fact, 24-7 prayer rooms have already touched down on over 300 campuses in the States, and this thing is just getting started.  

Probably the most exciting thing about this rapid growth is that 24-7 does not “own” Campus America.  Yes, we are stewarding the vision and we do feel responsible to spread the word about it as widely as we can, but all sorts of ministries and churches and individuals are involved and it is clearly much bigger than us.

Q:  What does campus prayer look like in action?

A:  At Ohio State University, it looked like a young woman named Allison Brooks.  Allison gave her life to Jesus, became captivated by the wonder of engaging with God in the sacred and simple place of prayer, and decided to invite her friends to experience the same.  So began a growing and diverse movement of praying students and professors that continues at OSU to this day.

A few months ago in North Dakota, campus prayer looked like every four-year college and university in the state banding together in intercession for an entire month.  Multiple campuses in North Dakota hosted periodic prayer rooms throughout that time, ultimately resulting in two outreach initiatives that involved 1700+ students.

This is the sort of stuff that is happening on campuses stretching from Georgia to Arizona, from Massachusetts to Hawaii: something beautiful is building and we all have a part to play in covering every campus in America in prayer.  

We can do this, if we will.

Trent Sheppard and his wife, Bronwyn, live in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Bronwyn is a graduate student in International Development at Clark University and Trent is a teaching pastor at a church called STATUS.  He is presently writing a book about the spiritual legacy of students in the United States.

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