University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Prayer Walk - Wayfinding with Joe Thomas

In this unique, historically-inspired, and locally-rooted episode of the Wayfinding podcast, Joe Thomas guides listeners on a walking prayer tour of the historic University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. As a Christian historian at Urbana Theological Seminary, Founder of local ministry Life Together House, and a long-standing member of the Evangelical Christian Union, Joe holds a deep love for this campus and believes in its spiritual significance, from its founding to the present. Join Joe as he navigates campus, pointing out spiritual points of interest and noteworthy language on campus that will direct you in a prayer walk for the university. Along the way, Joe will pause at 10 focal prayer locations, offering things to consider and pray for as you walk. Thanks for joining us on this wayfinding journey.
Click here for a campus map of the walking prayer tour.

Transcript

Introduction

Hello there, fellow wayfinder. My name is Joe Thomas and I am your guide through this prayer walk on the University of Illinois campus. I am a Christian historian at Urbana Theological Seminary, Founder and President of Life Together House, and I sit on the Executive Committee for the Evangelical Christian Union – an umbrella group for U. of I. campus Christian ministries. As I have learned more about this university I call home, I am struck by the spiritual significance of this place, all the way from its founding to the present.

A wayfinder looks for the signs and directional words to navigate a city or an unfamiliar, complex environment. Today, I will guide you around campus, pointing out significant spiritual points of interest and noteworthy words that will direct us in our prayer walk for the U. of I. I am so glad you have chosen to go on this wayfinding journey. A journey through time and history. A journey through the physical and spiritual landscape of this beautiful campus. And a journey with God and your fellow brothers and sisters praying for this place.

Today, we will walk around the heart of campus. During our time together, I want to share with you some of the history and significance of this place. Along the way, I will offer you things to consider and pray for. There will be places to pause and pray, but if at any point, the Spirit leads you, please pause and seek God first. 

We will go through 10 focal prayer point locations. As you walk between them, I hope to offer some context for why this location is important and a chance to consider what to pray for while you are there and while you are on the way.

Our walk will begin at the McFarland and Carillon Bell Tower on the South Quad. If you’re not there, look for the solitary tower, south of the Main Quad and Gregory Drive. Go ahead and pause and head there. I’ll wait for you to arrive. And if you’re able, I’d encourage you to begin the walk at the top of the hour ( or at least on a 15-minute chime) to experience the bells in action.

Focal Prayer Point One

Welcome to the Mcfarland Bell Tower. Take a look around. It stands tall, powerful, imposing over the grass of the South Quad. Between the bell tower and the library across the street is where students will gather to play games, like the occasional cricket match.

Bring your attention back to the tower. If you look at the inscriptions and plaques on the interior of the tower, one should stand out to you at the start of our prayer walk.

Did you find it?

If not, you can look to the plaque on the north support to your right that reads “love one another.” This quote from John’s Gospel account is a lovely phrase for the University to hold up high. But you might recall, Jesus gives this command to his disciples in the upper room on the night he was betrayed. The full quote from John 13:34-35 goes:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

This bell tower, donated by Richard McFarland, when first proposed, was conceived as a chapel on campus. Many land grant universities have chapels but the University of Illinois doesn’t have one. It’s not hard to look at this bell tower and imagine a chapel being here. Even though that vision never made it to reality, the echoes of it live on in the scripture from the Gospel of John inscribed on the bell tower.

The call for love as a marker of discipleship is a good one for us all. Yet as I have stood here, my mind goes to the Christian students who will read this verse in this place.

The call for their love to be a hallmark of their faith is a good one. Many students at the University of Illinois who are Christian did not come here because of the spiritual climate. They came because they want to be excellent in a specific field of study (more on that later), so every reminder of their call as a representative of Christ is worth heeding.

Prayer Prompts #1

I’m going to give you a bit of time here to pray for these students. Whether they came to campus as a believer or became one in their time here, these students are Christ’s ambassadors in this place. Let’s take a moment to pray for them. For their studies. For their relationships. For their walk with God. For their love for each other to be their distinguishing mark of discipleship of Jesus Christ. Jesus promises in John 17 that love for one another will be the ultimate witness to the reality of Jesus to a university world seeking unity in so many misguided ways.

I’ll give you some time to pray. Feel free to pause this track. When we start back up again, we’ll begin the walk north towards the heart of campus.

Focal Prayer Point Two

Welcome back. Before we go forward, I want you to take a look at the University seal at the base of the Bell Tower. There, you’ll see two hallmark words of UIUC. “Learning and Labor.” “Learning and Labor” are such key words they make it into the fight song “Illinois Loyalty,”:

“For honest labor and for learning we stand,

And unto thee we pledge our hand,

Dear Alma Mater Illinois.” (Should we play a clip of Illinois Loyalty here?”

You will encounter “Learning and Labor” once again when you reach the Alma Mater, which has personified Learning and Labor as part of the famous monument. The concepts will form the foundation for the original Christian vision for the University of Illinois. More on that later.

The University has been the cornerstone of so much amazing learning and led to absolutely stunning labor.

Let’s talk about it. Start to walk north. You’ll know you’re facing north if you see the green dome of Foellinger Auditorium. Take the path in front of you to your left and then back right towards the green dome. We’re headed to the Main Library. You’ll cross Gregory Drive  and the Library will be the first building on your left.

With respect to the catalogued number of items in it, the University of Illinois library system is the 2nd largest library in the United States and 13th largest in the world. The amount of knowledge stored in the stacks is remarkable!

And it has led to some truly amazing learning and labor. I’d love to tell you about some of the results of the learning and labor of the University and its alumni.

Why don’t we start with what you’re listening on. I have to imagine that the majority of you are listening to this recording on your smartphone. Inside the phone is a system of computer chips. A computer chip is a collection of something called transistors. Like millions of them. They were first demonstrated to work in 1947 at Bell Labs by 3 men, one of whom is a University of Illinois graduate, John Bardeen.

The very fact that we have computers stands on the shoulders of this University. Bardeen won 2 Nobel Prizes in Physics. He is the only person to have done so. And it doesn’t stop there. Does your phone have a flash? Smartphone camera flashes (or flashlights) are LED based.

The first practical LED was invented by Nick Holonyak, who was a graduate student at Illinois under the tutelage of John Bardeen. Two essential parts of your smartphone, all from research at UIUC.

Let’s do one more. I imagine you opened this audio by going to a website. Well, in 1993, the first graphical web browser called Mosaic, was invented at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) right here in Champaign-Urbana and affiliated with the University. Those of a certain age will remember the consumer version of Mosaic, Netscape Navigator.

All of these things, in your hand, built on the foundation of the University of Illinois. Add to this list foundational work in disabilities resource education, the MRI, wheelchair basketball, and wrap it up with the 24 Nobel Prizes won by UIUC alumni and faculty. 

Why do we mention this? Just to brag about the University of Illinois? Okay, maybe a little bit. But mostly we draw your attention to these innovations and inventions to prepare you for the original spiritual vision proclaimed for this university at its founding. Namely, that God gave humanity the needed gifts to lighten the physical burden of humankind and begin to establish a millennium of labor. Millennium is a biblical word we will learn more about later as we encounter some of the founders of the University of Illinois and its origin story. “Labor and Learning” are not just secular words, but are infused with religious meaning. The University of Illinois may have lost the spiritual side of its original vision, but the emphasis on learning and labor has continued. We will pray for the University and call it back to its full and original vision for this fallen world.

The University of Illinois has been a leader in the vision for learning and labor. And my hope is that as I’ve walked you through this list of accomplishments, of which more could be added, you are standing at the front of the Main Library. This imposing structure has a beautiful reading room on the 2nd floor and is emblematic of the culture set in place by the University founding President and faculty.

Prayer Prompts #2

So as you stand here at these doors with statues in front of you, I invite you to another time of prayer.

I invite you to pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the hands that God has sent to this place and the gifts they have given to humanity because of their efforts.

I also invite you to pray for the continuation of that vision of labor and learning. That good things would flow from the university that would lead to a better quality of life for so many. That the glory of God’s image bearers stewarding the creation would flow from this place.

And finally, I invite you to pray for the institution that is the University of Illinois. Pray for its leaders, the alumni who represent it, and the students laboring away within it. Pray that the vision for adding value and life to the world would not be lost and that more and more of the researchers would give God glory for magnificent innovations and inventions that occur here.

I’ll give you a few minutes to pray before we continue our walk.

Focal Prayer Point Three

Welcome back. I hope your time with God was fruitful and powerful. Now, as we start on our walk again, I want to point you in the direction of that green dome on the top of Foellinger Auditorium we were looking at before. We are on the backside of the building and I’m going to take us to the front side, overlooking the Main Quad.

Let’s talk about our next location and its significance. Foellinger Auditorium is home to the largest lecture hall on campus. It has seating for over 1,300 people and is the host to many large classes.

It is also the traditional location of an event called All Campus Worship. All Campus Worship at Illinois is an opportunity for Christians from across different ministries to come together to worship with one voice in one place. This unifying practice is not as common at other universities as you might think and has been going on here at Illinois since 1993.

This event is a powerful act of unity for the Church and for the different ministries on campus. If you have a moment, and the doors are unlocked, I invite you to climb the steps and take a look inside. Now imagine a building filled to the brim with students pouring their hearts out to God. Moreover, the worship time is led by students who lead worship in the different campus ministries. This space can be a unique place of personal transformation as speakers preach the Word of God to the UIUC student body.

Prayer Prompts #3

Plenty has changed since 1993 and that first All Campus Worship. From the music to the dress to so much more. But what has not changed is the powerful unity expressed by God’s people on this campus.

We’re going to go into a time of prayer again and I’d invite you to pray for unity. Unity amongst the churches around our campus and the ministries on it. Unity amongst the believers amid ever-changing times. Unity between God and His people.

I’d also invite you to pray for the Evangelical Christian Union. This is the organization that ties leaders of different Christian groups together for fellowship and the group who oversees and hosts All Campus Worship.

And if you know any Christian students on our campus, pray by name for these young men and women as they seek God while growing in their field of study.

I’ll give you a few minutes to pray and then we’ll continue our walk.

Focal Prayer Point Four

Ok, let’s get walking. Before you go, though, I’d encourage you to check out the echo plate in the middle of the terrace. Find the badge at the center of the porch in front of Foellinger. Stand on it while facing the Main Quad. Then start speaking to hear your voice echo back to you, as clear as a bell. It’s a fun experience.

Now, we’re going to turn to the west and look at Lincoln Hall. Before you say anything, especially if you’re from out of state…yes, we love Abraham Lincoln here.

The 16th President of the United States could have called a few different places home, but his formative years were spent in Illinois and we won’t let anybody who will listen forget it.

Perhaps obviously, we love Lincoln for the work he did to keep the union together, to initiate the freedom of slaves. These two things are massive enough works that if we left it there, we’d not need to say more.

You can see moments tied to his presidency depicted in etchings along the top of the building as you walk by it. And please keep walking. I’m actually going to have you walk to the north side of the building to look at a few quotes with me. So let’s head there now. You can walk along the west side of the Quad and turn left when you get to the lamp we call the eternal flame. 

Walking to Lincoln Hall

Now about Abraham Lincoln, Again, we here in Illinois love Lincoln. His legacy is vast and key in the history of our nation. Today, I want to highlight a part of his presidency you may not know about. It is the 1862 signing of the Morril Act. With a Civil War raging in the nation, other work was still afoot. The Morril Act made it possible for states to establish public colleges through federal land grants. The University of Illinois, much like many schools established at this time, is one of the land grant schools. The University of Illinois, founded in 1867, owes not a small part of its existence to the pen of Abraham Lincoln.

As you walk around Lincoln Hall, we are reminded of Lincoln’s greatest contributions to history as the building is dedicated to the ending of slavery in our nation. While his work wasn’t the end of the story for segregation, it was a key moment in the history of race relations in this nation.

As you look at the northern wall of the building, be sure to look up. You’ll see portraits of those who influenced Lincoln as well as a collection of some of his most impactful quotes.

“Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature – opposition to it in his love of justice.” – Peoria, Oct. 16, 1854

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” March 4, 1861

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.” March 4, 1865.

The words of Lincoln can speak to our current national struggles if we let them. Through his words, we can see a call to national unity that echoes the unity God calls for amongst the church and all peoples, no matter their racial or ethnic backgrounds.

Prayer Prompts #4

So let’s take a moment and pray for unity. Let Lincoln’s words echo the heart of God for Unity.

For unity amongst God’s people.

For unity within the different campus ministries.

Let us also pray for racial and ethnic reconciliation. There are genuine hurts to be addressed within our student body and national conflicts that divide people. Let us pray that all people would feel accepted and loved as God would have them be.

I’ll give you a few minutes to pause the prayer walk and pray and then we’ll continue our walk.

Now, I’d like you to walk west with me to the street. This short walk will bring us to our next area of prayer focus.

Focal Prayer Point Five

In front of your eyes, just to the left, you will see the University YMCA. While many of us know the Y as a swim and gym organization, at the beginning of the University of Illinois in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the Y held Bible studies and pursued evangelistic outreach that was encouraged by the University. 

But that isn’t the only building of Christian significance on this block and in your view. To the left of the Y, you can see the Chapel of St. John the Divine, an Episcopalian chapel where our local Urbana Theological Seminary holds its graduation ceremonies.

Behind the Y and St. John’s you’ll find the Newman Catholic Center. Right in front of you are two Lutheran Churches, St. Andrews Church, and University Lutheran Church. As you go out a block or two to the west, you’ll find 3 more campus focused church buildings and more offices for campus ministries.

While it would be good to sit and chat about the merits of any single tradition and how we might engage with it, the deeper reality here is that just across from the Main Quad of one of the largest state schools in the nation stands a physical outpost with the intent to shape students towards Christ. To make a larger point, since the conception of the University of Illinois the Christian Church has responded to Christ’s call to evangelize and disciple students on this campus. 

You might not know that the University has its own outreach to the various campus churches and ministries. This University relationship with religious organizations is called the Religious Workers Association, which provides clear backing from the University for the faith life of students. This provides church and campus ministries the privilege to do things like meet in campus buildings for reduced or waived fees.

Prayer Prompts #5

Regardless of whether a ministry has a brick-and-mortar space, there are many faithful Christian campus ministries who have set up outposts close to campus to help students to know and serve their Lord and Savior, Jesus.

Would you take time to pray for these ministries? That they would use the tools available to them to proclaim Christ boldly.

Also, on a college campus that is on the edge of cultural movements, it can be easy to try to soften the message of Christ or to include other social issues that then become more important to us than the gospel. Pray that we would remain true to the Gospel that has been given to us.

I’ll give you a few minutes to pray and then we’ll move on.

Welcome back. The north/south street we are standing in front of is called Wright Street. Where you’re standing is Urbana. On the other side of Wright lies the city of Champaign. For the purposes of our prayer walk, we’ll stay in the heart of campus town in Urbana, but know University buildings and student housing extend 7 more blocks to the west.

Focal Prayer Point Six

Our wayfinding journey takes us to the right, north up Wright Street. As we walk, on your left, across Wright, you’ll see a few sorority houses. Home to one of the largest Greek systems, UIUC has nearly 50 fraternities and 40 sororities. Most of these are social, but there are professional ones as well. 

While it is not one of our prayer focal points, know that the ministers here would appreciate your prayers for students in the Greek system. It can be a powerful tool for networking and making lifelong friendships which can also facilitate the spread of the gospel message when Greek members come to faith in Christ.

To the north of the sororities, you’ll find the Illini Union Bookstore. This is not to be confused with the Illini Union, which is a separate building we will pass later. In the digital era, this is the last remaining physical bookstore on campus. 

The building on your right (not to be confused with Wright Street which begins with a “W” and is on your left) is Henry Administration Building. If you have any outstanding tuition bills, you might stop in to pay them here.

Once you pass Henry, you’ll find a grove of trees and bike racks in it. In that small grove, I want you to look for a memorial that looks like a headstone. This is our next focal prayer point.

It is a memorial to John Milton Gregory, the first president of the University of Illinois and a Baptist Pastor. On it you’ll find the quote “If you seek his monument, look about you.”

However, before you take in the Quad and the amazing educational buildings that line this beautiful grass space (of which one of them is named Gregory Hall), we should step back and talk about Gregory’s heart for the University.

While we have talked about the Christian presence  here on campus and the amazing innovations that have come from this place, Gregory is a good person to tie the two together.

At the time of the founding of the University of Illinois, the Christian sentiment amongst many was that we were called to participate in reversing the curse. In Genesis 3, after the Fall of humanity into sin, God curses Adam’s labor. In the 1860s, the industrial revolution was feeding into a biblical reading that believed the power of the gospel renewed humanity not only for personal salvation and holiness but also to reform the world and make it a better place to live. Gregory, along with others affiliated with the founding of the University, believed that “labor and learning” could contribute to this renewal of the world. The phrase “Reversing the Curse” became shorthand for this theological perspective. 

This was not an attempt to elevate some form of humanism. It was specifically Christian. They presumed that God had put into the creation the things to make life go better. The alleviation of pain and suffering could be brought about through the ability to produce food in greater volume with less toil. 

Gregory put it this way:

“The work which we have roughly outlined will be accomplished, and in the end God will not leave on this earth one single one of the necessary employments of mankind, or of womankind, unredeemed from the old, clingy curse which reduced labor to ignorant sweaty toil.” 

But more than simply reducing the impact of the curse of Adam was the glorious days it could bring in. Again we hear from Gregory:

“Because labor transforms the world itself from the savage wild to the fruitful Eden.”

As you can hear, the founding of the University of Illinois is soaked in an eschatological hopefulness about the impact of the Gospel on the world. 

This founding DNA seems to echo throughout the University today. While we don’t see the Christian roots here anymore, they are inseparable from the University. Like asking to take the eggs out of an already baked cake, it is impossible to separate the founding thoughts of Gregory and others from the University’s current pursuit in agricultural science, Physics, engineering, medical technology, and other fields of study. The University is still trying to “reverse the curse.”

Gregory’s impact was not simply connected to the biblical vision he had for the University as an educational institution, but he had a personal care for the spiritual well-being of his students as well. The topics he preached in chapel, (yes there were chapel services at the beginning of the University), demonstrate a keen awareness of the spiritual needs of the students. In a sermon on the “Temptations of Young Men,” he included admonitions against the allurement of excessive wealth, gambling, drinking alcohol, and yes young ladies. No doubt that sermon has relevance even today. 

He also preached for the mind, including messages on “The Authenticity of the Bible,” “Is there a God?,” “Was Jesus of Nazareth more than a mere man?” and many more similar topics. 

Prayer Prompt #6 

What the University Founders sowed has produced much fruit over the years and now let’s pray for even more fruit, both spiritual and material, that honors God.

A calling back to the founding vision naturally calls us to look at where the University is today and to where it will go. Let’s pray for the University, that God would receive the glory for the great work that is done here. 

Focal Prayer Point Seven

As you finish your prayer time at the John Milton Gregory memorial, you’ll continue your walk around Altgeld Hall, which is to your left or north of the memorial stone. John Altgeld was the 20th Governor of Illinois and his name is on buildings on 5 public colleges in Illinois. The building here is on the National Register of Historic Places.

As you round the building on either side towards the north to Green Street, you’ll see an imposing bronze statue with 3 figures on it, of which two of the figures personify “Learning and Labor.” This is the Alma Mater statue. As the plaque says, it was conceived 55 years after the founding of the University and was funded by donations from 7 graduating classes. It has been a focal point of campus ever since it was moved to this location in 1962. In recent years, the University has taken to attiring the woman on the statue for various occasions. Some of the more prominent examples are a basketball jersey for the March Madness basketball tournament or a graduation cap and gown at the end of every school year.

Alma Mater means “nourishing mother.” Today, these two words are what you call the school you graduated from. But the name has great wisdom and significance also. This place, this university, becomes the place of deep formation for many after leaving their homes for college. The inscription on the right side of the statue says, “Her children arise and call her blessed.” This quote comes from Proverbs 31:28 and continues in verse 30 by stating “but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” 

May students at the University of Illinois experience such spiritual formation as they contemplate these words from Proverbs 31. So many remember their experience at college as deep and the allegiances extend long beyond time in the classroom.

For our prayer walk today, I want to note the inscription on the front: “To thy happy children of the future, those of the past send greetings.” As we have already heard, the University here was established with a vision deeply informed by the Christian faith. This inscription calls out that past and connects it to today and the future. Much has changed here in Champaign-Urbana since the founding of the University, but the past calling out to the future is a reminder that this place is here to form the whole person.

Their future, which for us is today, includes a campus with a growing population. God is bringing the nations to our campus and the outstretched hands of the Alma Mater welcome them. This is not just true for the university, but also true for the missionaries on campus who are happy to have God bring people from all nations and cultures to our doorstep to share the Gospel and train them to walk with Jesus wherever they go. Countless international students first hear of Christ on this university and come to receive him as their Lord as they experience the joy of sins forgiven for the first time.

Prayer Prompts #7

At this focal prayer point, you’re invited to pray for the welcoming spirit of this campus. Would it be a place where ideas are exchanged and people are given opportunities to come to know Jesus. There is no better way for Alma Mater’s children to arise and call her blessed. God ahead and press pause now and pray for the international students, the gospel workers reaching them, and a continued spirit of the founding of the University to shape the future. When you’re done, press play, and we’ll continue our walk to the Main Quad, where we’ll talk more about the mission on this campus.

Focal Prayer Point Eight

At the Alma Mater statue, we have reached the furthest north point of our prayer walk. From here on, we’ll head south. So take the path behind the Alma Mater and follow it south. With Altgeld on your right and the aforementioned Illini Union on your left, you are headed to the Main Quad.

The Illini Union is, in many ways, the hub of the campus. Where prospective student tours and new student orientations occur, the Union is home to many student organization offices as well as a food court and arcade to blow off steam. The Union is often a great place to spark spiritual conversations.

As you arrive at a fork in the path, go left to curl around the Illini Union and to step onto the Main Quad. If you head to the middle of the Union, you can look south upon Foellinger Auditorium, the building with the green dome. This paved place, called Anniversary Plaza, is the home to many a student organization fundraiser outreach and where one Christian ministry offers free coffee in the morning.

Now, look out on the grass, toward Foellinger. However many students you see out today, imagine more, many more. Now, whatever the weather outside, make it hotter and more humid in your imagination. We’ve set the stage for Quad Day.

On the eve of every Fall semester, the University hosts an event called Quad Day. This activity fair on steroids is one of, if not the largest in the country. There are over 1,000 student organizations on campus and they all jockey for a 6-foot-long table and piece of real estate to invite students to join their club.

In so many ways, this event captures the spirit of university life. Did you love who you were in high school? There are ways to move on from that awkward time. What if you’re ready to start a new life? There’s a whole new horizon to reinvent your passions here. The possibilities feel endless and they can be overwhelming. Sure you can sign up for a text or email group and get a free drink, but you can’t do every club on campus. Though, the high achieving Illinois student might try….

Nestled away in Quad Day is the religious life section. Because the University values spiritual life, they have set aside a place on Quad Day for all religious groups to invite new students. For many, they walk through this religious section with the greatest of pace, but for others, the possibility to be a part of a church or ministry is the strongest desire. For a third group, exploring the spiritual life in college is something they’d do if only asked.

So, we ask.

Thousands of students walk around Quad Day, wide eyed and filled with anticipation. And it is these campus ministries sowing a seed, interrupting the flow of life, much like Jesus, with the hope of cultivating some desire in students to explore the call.

Prayer Prompt #8

Today, I’d invite you to immerse yourself in Quad Day. And as you look out and imagine the invites to various groups, pray for the campus ministries and churches who have outposts on this lawn.

I invite you to pause here and pray before we head south again on our journey.

Focal Prayer Point Nine

Welcome back. We’re going to head south on the Quad now. Take the path going toward Foellinger that’s on your left. If school is in session, take note of the students walking around. They are the modern lifeblood moving along these major veins and arteries of the campus. They are, whether they realize it or not, fulfilling Kingdom vision. 

We’re headed to what is now known as Davenport Hall. Before we get there, if you look to East and just beyond the statue of the wooly mammoth you will discover Burrill Hall, named after Methodist Thomas Burrill, the first professor of Botany at the University of Illinois. He was instrumental in planting the various orchards that have beautified the campus for generations. He also expressed the Christian vision guiding the early years of the University. 

He gave a public lecture in 1869 based on Genesis 1:28-30, where humankind is given dominion over the earth, not to exploit the earth but to cultivate it. 

“Like every other gift of the Creator, plants are ours to improve. God always gives us elements from which we must develop their possibilities. He furnishes the materials, we, by patient study and consummate skill, must learn how to use them.” (52)

Hopefully, you are now standing in front of Davenport Hall. Davenport was the original home of the agricultural college. You can still read the “College of Agriculture” inscription on the top of the building. 

The AG school has grown far beyond Davenport’s size, but the marks still remain on inscriptions at the top of the building. It will be the third building on the left after Noyes Hall and the Chemistry Annex. 

Now, back to the Kingdom vision. Remember the words of Gregory, the first President. Let me point you to another founding father of the UIUC vision, Jonathan Baldwin Turner.

Turner was a Congregationalist Minister with a BA from Yale, who envisioned the public university as a way to advance God’s millennial work on earth by educating, to use his term, “Thinking Laborers.” He called for the “reversing of the curse,” through God’s gifts to humankind. 

“Fellow citizens, God made us all intellectual beings, and to do the work of intelligence and freedom, not the drudgery of ignorance and servitude. And when the millennium of labor comes, brute beasts will perform less really hard service than we and our children do now….” (36)

The importance and centrality of this vision is revealed by the quote from Turner at the top of Davenport Hall. Inscribed for every generation to read.

“Industrial education prepares the way for a millennium of labor.”

We should put this quote in its proper historical context. In 19th century America, there was a keen sense that the Christian gospel not only redeemed individuals but could also improve society and help prepare for the day of the millennium.

There are many Christian professors who I imagine would be heartened and encouraged by this and perhaps you’re listening. The good news is that this university space has been consecrated to bring healing to the nations. It began through industrial and agricultural education, but as we’ve seen, has continued into the digital age and as we’ll see soon, has had a deeply spiritual impact too.

Prayer Prompt #9

Considering this impact, that has happened and is to come, let us pray.

Pray thanksgiving for the innovations developed here to make life better.

Pray for the Christian professors upholding this founding vision.

Pray for the students these professors are shaping.

And pray for those who don’t know Christ, yet still carry out part of the original founding vision of the University of Illinois. Pray they would come to know King Jesus who gave the vision in the first place.

You can pause now and we’ll give you time to pray before we continue our wayfinding journey.

Focal Prayer Point 10

Before we go on, I’d like to acknowledge this vision could seemingly feel lost in the secularization of the University. But I believe God is sovereign and still keeps the lights on for the vision. And the University hasn’t lost itself completely. 

Ok, let’s head south again. You will pass Foellinger Auditorium on your right, make a slight jog to the left and take the sidewalk heading south. We are heading back to the McFarland Bell Tower. Along the way, we will pass by Morrow Plotts. First developed in 1876, Morrow Plotts is the oldest continually used space of its kind in the United States and the second oldest in the world. Here in this rich Illinois soil, research on crop rotation, nutrient depletion and fertilizers’ effects on yield have all been studied. 

Did you also know that “Illini Supersweet” sweet corn was developed on this campus? It accounts for an amazing 95% of the sweet corn sold in the U.S. grocery stores.

Looking ahead you should see the McFarland Bell Tower. This is where we started. Our wayfinding has taken us through the history of the University of Illinois, the founding vision, fulfillment of the vision through its innovations, and the work of Christians on the campus yesterday and today.

But the spiritual legacy of the University of Illinois doesn’t end here. As we walk, I would be remiss to not mention one of my favorite innovations tied to this university community, even if not a milestone the University highlights on their website.

In 1948, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship held their second missions conference here at the University of Illinois. Jim Elliot, famed missionary, and martyr attended the conference that year.

From 1948 to 2003, the conference was held right her on the University campus. The Urbana Conference became a massive hallmark in the casting of vision of mission to the entire world. This conference, built around world missions, seems to embody the deep spiritual heart of the vision of UIUC. The goal was to improve life for many. What greater improvement than for unreached people groups and many more who haven’t heard to encounter the creator and reconciler, Jesus.

Many notable people have attended the Urbana conference such as Billy Graham, Elizabeth Elliot, John Stott, and the great missiologist Ralph Winter. 

The Urbana Conference has launched thousands of college aged people into world missions and thousands more into supporting the work here stateside. It has since moved on from the University of Illinois location, but its birth and existence here for nearly 60 years demonstrates again how the prayers of the university founders have been answered. In this case, a spiritual innovation that has impacted the world for Christ, moving us closer to the millennium.

Prayer Prompt

As we arrive at the bell tower, remember the call for Christian unity. Be united with me in prayer as we pray for Gospel influence across the globe, all from this little speck on the map in the middle of Illinois.

Closing

As you reach the Bell Tower, I want to thank you for taking this wayfinding with me across the Illinois campus and its Christian vision and history. UIUC is a small, yet seemingly consecrated place, with an outsized impact on the world. I believe this retelling of the spiritual significance of this space should leave us with hope for today and tomorrow. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that we should confront the world with God where it is strongest. The University of Illinois is strong in creating vision and innovation for the world. This is exactly the place the Gospel needs to speak into and speak out of. We will continue to pray that God’s impact goes forth in this place as we call it forward until God’s glorious return.

Thank You

At this point, I’d like to offer some thanks for this project. This prayer walk was a creation of Life Together House and written by Joe Thomas and Alan Hable, campus minister with Illini Life. I’d like to also thank the many people who accompanied us on this prayer walk and offered invaluable insights to the project, making it stronger in every way. Plus, a special thank you to WBGL and Eric ________ at WBGL for recording this prayer walk and also as the voice of the quotes in this presentation.

We are deeply indebted to the research of Brett Smith. You can read his book, Labor’s Millennium: Christianity, Industrial Education, and the Founding of the University of Illinois for a fuller picture of the theological and philosophical underpinnings of the founding vision for the University of Illinois. 

If you want to read an example of the American Church practicing racial unity during the time of segregation, read Joseph Thomas’ Perfect Harmony.

If you want to learn more about another example of wayfinding from a believer who came before us, listen to the podcast “Wayfinding with Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” or read the book by the same name from Jonathan King and Joseph Thomas.

We hope you enjoyed your time with us today. We consider this our love letter to the University of Illinois. A beautiful love letter recalls the passionate beginnings, reminds us today of God’s love once again, and calls us to a future of that same love. We love you, UIUC.

If you liked today’s prayer walk, please share it with a friend or colleague. We believe in the power of prayer and would love your help inviting more people into this wayfinding with us.

If you would like to close out your journey with a bit of that sweet air conditioning (or heat), a drink of water, and a restroom, check out the Funk Library. It’s the octagon shaped building to the east of McFarland Bell Tower. In the lobby, you’ll find a mural depicting many of the people and scenes we described in today’s prayer walk.