FM72 Brings Students Together, Ushers Baylor into Holy Week

Contact: Shelby Cefaratti-Bertin, Baylor University Media & Public Relations, 254-327-8012
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WACO, Texas (March 22, 2024) – Baylor University’s Office of Spiritual Life, in partnership with multiple campus ministries and local churches, will host FM72, a gathering of college students for 72 hours of continuous prayer Sunday through Wednesday, March 24-27, on Fountain Mall at the heart of the Baylor campus. 

In addition, each night at 8 p.m., students will gather on Fountain Mall for worship and to hear God’s Word. The nightly services will be live-streamed on the FM72 website. 

FM72 was first held at Baylor in spring 2019 and has since become an annual part of the University’s outpouring of faith. This year is special as FM72 ushers in Holy Week, beginning on Palm Sunday and leading to Easter Sunday. at Baylor. The unique coordination will add emphasis to the significance of the week. 

"The goal of FM72 is to stir a passion for Jesus Christ in the Baylor community,” said Charles Ramsey, Ph.D., associate chaplain and director for Chapel and Campus Ministries at Baylor. “It is a new opportunity to turn our attention as Christians to the most sacred week in the church calendar. Our hope is that FM72 will add emphasis in our hearts and minds to the sacredness and spiritual significance of this week.” 

FM72 will provide times of guided prayer, where students are led by local leaders from churches and ministries on campus. The prayer tent is available on Fountain Mall to all students, faculty and staff. 

“Lord, make us ready” (Isaiah 62:10-12) 

The theme for this year is “Lord, make us ready” (Isaiah 62:10-12). Chosen by a group of students at a retreat last fall, the passage speaks to the hope that God will make a people who are attentive and watchful. 

“Are we awake and watching, expectant for God to be moving and active in our midst,” said Ramsey. “Let us be a people who are being prepared and ready for a move of God. Ready to say, ‘yes’ to Jesus’s invitation to Kingdom living.”

With an emphasis on Holy Week, FM72 will reflect both anticipation and solemnity with a desire to support and augment already significant traditions surrounding Holy Week at Baylor. 

“The stations in the tent, the themes prepared by student testimonies and the messages presented, are not only about hope and celebration – they are also about lament and loss and the need for repentance and for the hope embodied by Christ through the righteousness demonstrated on the cross,” Ramsey said. 

Nightly worship 

FM72’s worship leaders this year are from local Waco churches and the greater Dallas area, including: 

• Kyle Martin, founder of Time to Revive in Dallas-Fort Worth and a Baylor dad who has served local Waco churches and campus ministries for the past two years and will lead Sunday worship;
• Ziafat Afshin, pastor of Providence Church in Frisco, Texas, and founder of Vertical Ministries at Baylor, who will speak on Monday; 
• Austin Murray, college pastor at Antioch Waco, who will bring the Word on Tuesday; 
• Maddie Echols, community pastor at a local Waco church, who will close the event with worship on Wednesday. 

FM72’s musicians and worship leaders are a combination of campus ministers and students from multiple local churches. The collaboration of an abundance of Waco churches creates a unique experience on campus. 

“It’s a convergence. It’s like a river where many streams come together,” Ramsey said. “It takes a lot of planning, coordination, giving and serving to bring about this event. It takes trust and friends and a willingness to give sacrificially.” 

Origins of renewal and revival 

FM72 is not the first time Baylor students have gathered for constant prayer. In 1945, Baylor students prayed for renewal and revival for 90 continuous days. The movement was felt nationwide and sowed the seeds for ministries like the Journeyman Mission and Passion Conference. 

“FM72 has become a season of consecration, where we are reminded of the love of God and the invitation of Jesus to be disciples,” Ramsey said. “The event is an invitation to take inventory, to think through where I am, where I’ve been and where I’m going.”

More information is available on the FM72 website or the FM72 Instagram.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.