An Invocation

Thursday, August 21, will stand out as an important day in the 88-year history of Point University. First known as Atlanta Christian College and founded in 1937 in East Point, Georgia, the University has been led by seven faithful men. Dr. Stacy A. Bartlett, who graduated in 2005, began serving as president on July 1 and was formally inaugurated last night at our convocation service for the 2025-26 academic year in a beautiful service at Spring Road Christian Church in Lanett, Alabama – just a few miles from our main campus in West Point, Georgia.

For people like me who graduated during the Atlanta Christian College part of our history, you would be grateful to have heard President Bartlett’s recognition that who we are today – Point University, with many degree options – is rooted in who we were – Atlanta Christian College, with limited degree options. Our mission has not changed – we exist “to educate students for Christ-centered service and leadership throughout the world.” And yes, that includes preparing men and women for ministry in the church and parachurch agencies, as well as preparing every Point student to take faith into the workplace.

I was honored to have been asked to pray the invocation for the service. I get asked to do that at lots of occasions, like commencement, and I hope it’s not because I’m old and have been at Point for over half of its history! I take such assignments seriously and try to prepare a prayer appropriate for the occasion. I was asked by a number of people after the service last night if I would send them a copy of my prayer. I hope I remember all the people who asked me that, but in case I didn’t, I decided to post the prayer on my website.

I hope you will join me in praying these words over President Bartlett and Point University!

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Dear Father in Heaven,

On this momentous occasion, we cannot help but begin with words of praise and thanksgiving for all that you have done over the past decades for the kingdom outpost we know as Point University. That certainly includes thanksgiving for the wonderful, kingdom-oriented work over the past twenty years of former President Dean Collins and his gracious wife, Penny.

Because this is the official beginning of a new semester, we pause to first thank you for our students – both returning students and new students. Without them, Point would have no ability to accomplish our mission to educate students for Christ-centered service and leadership throughout the world. We thank you for our faculty, who diligently prepare to engage with students in learning and living; for our staff, who, though often behind the scenes, make what we do at Point possible; for our coaches, who are called to model the life of Jesus among their teams; for our donors, whose generosity continues to make it possible for Point to exist; and for our trustees, whose commitment to this mission sets the agenda we are called to fulfill.

But tonight, Lord, is more than just an annual worship service to begin a new academic year. Tonight, Dr. Stacy Bartlett becomes our new president. We petition you, Lord, to richly bless President Bartlett, her husband Jeremiah, and their children, Reagan and Riley. While the task of being president is hers, the call from you is on their family. May we commit to pray for them daily.

In our 88th year of continued ministry, we have had but seven presidents, all fine men with vision for Christian higher education in the southeast. Dr. Bartlett becomes our eighth president, our first female president, at a time when the outreach of Point University has never been broader. The Southeast alone no longer can tell our story about your story. 

Tonight, I am reminded of the words of King Solomon at the dedication of the Temple, when he said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love with your servants who walk before with all their hearts.” (1 Kings 8:23)

We know the stories of some of those covenant people. The story of Deborah: because of her leadership as a Judge in Israel, “the land had rest for forty years.” (Judges 5:1) Or the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum, whom God used to confirm that the Word of the Lord found in the Temple when King Josiah began a reform was indeed the Law of God. We remember Ruth, a foreigner who came to Israel with her Jewish mother-in-law and who is a near-ancestor of King David. (Ruth 4:22) Her name is found in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. (1:5)

We cannot forget Mary, the mother of Jesus, or women like Mary Magdalene, who were the first to proclaim the glorious news “He is Risen. He is not Here.” (John 20:18) Then there are house church leaders like Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11), Syntyche and Eudodia (Phil. 4:2), and Nympha (Col. 4:14). Or the women in Romans 16, including Junia, “who was prominent among the apostles.” (Romans 16:7)

Then there is Phoebe, the deacon/minister to whom Paul entrusted what may be his most important epistle, Romans, to take it to Rome, read it to them, and explain the details. 

So, Lord, in your centuries-long habit of using the right people to carry out your mission, even when those right people are women and not men, we ask your deepest blessings on Dr. Stacy Bartlett tonight. 

I am grateful that the search committee and trustees had the wisdom to choose her to be our new president. We praise you in advance for the great work she will do here to advance the kingdom of God as we continue our mission of educating students for Christ-centered service and leadership throughout the world.

In the blessed name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

_{Image by Jenő Szabó from Pixabay}