Hundreds of worshippers filled the Colonnades with song and prayer, and cheered as pastors baptized dozens.

The fourth Worship on the Hill drew around one thousand people Monday evening, led by the WKU Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center amphitheater.

The three-hour service featured local church leaders and other speakers, including WKU Women’s Basketball player Trinity Rowe, backed by a live band. During the service, 41 students were baptized by pastor Gregg Farrell from Crossland Community Church and pastor Jamie Ward from Hillvue Heights Church.

“The goal of the event is to unite both ministries and churches for a night of worship,” said FCA Director David Byrd.

FCA led the collaboration of Christian student organizations, including the Christian Student Fellowship, Campus Crusade for Christ and Baptist Campus Ministry. The event was also organized in partnership with local churches CenterPointe, Crossland Community, City Light, Hillvue Heights and NewLife.

This was the first time the event was held in the amphitheater at the William Terry Colonnade. The first three were held in Gordon Wilson Hall and South Lawn. The amphitheater, which seats around 3,000 according to WKU’s website, was at least half full for most of the evening.

Byrd said he saw the evening as a confirmation of the work he and others do to create a respite for students from the stressors of school and life. Byrd believes an important step in students’ faith journey is to get connected with a church or other faith community, and to show them they’re not alone.

“We just want to give a space and a place to respond and find hope,” Byrd said. “We want to give them an outlet of hope that we found in Christ.”

When Rowe took the stage, she shared her own experience finding hope in her faith.

She spoke on her experience growing up in the church and rediscovering her faith during her freshman year at the University of Southern Mississippi before she transferred to WKU this year.

Rowe said she felt obliged to live college life up and join in the partying and drinking that hadn’t been available to her in her hometown of Pikeville. But, she ultimately found that life unfulfilling,

“I never felt so alone in a room full of people that I thought were my friends,” Rowe said to the crowd. “I was going to keep doing it until I found some fun in it. And then my roommate woke me up on Sunday and was like, ‘Come on girl, we’re going to church.’”

Rowe said that she has since found community in the church and FCA.

She said that Byrd and his wife, Angela, called Rowe early last week and asked her to speak. Though she said talking about basketball is easy, a public proclamation of her faith was a whole different game.

“But, coming into my faith… recently, has really empowered me, and he’s given me the strength to speak on what he’s done in my life,” Rowe said.

Rowe said her faith also played into her on-court confidence and gave her strength when she broke her hand last fall.

“I used to have performance anxiety, and now I can just pray and find so much peace,” Rowe said. “I know that no matter what happens, win or lose, God’s got me, he’s going to make something good out of it.”

Crossland Bowling Green Campus pastor Matt Willgruber said only a handful of individuals decided in advance to be baptized at the service. Most, he said, made the choice spontaneously.

“There may be some forethought, but a lot of these students are just hearing the gospel for the first time and coming forward right away, which is crazy — crazy in a good way,” Willgruber said.

While students face many unique challenges today, Willgruber said he believes spiritual guidance from a higher power has always been helpful in a world that has always been full of tumult.

“When I accepted Jesus, I was college-age,” Willgruber said. “At the time, I didn’t know what was going on. But, looking back, it was completely prompted by the Holy Spirit. I felt I was moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Freshman accounting major Jordan Buchanan was one of 41 who were baptized. She said that she grew up in the church but wanted to build her own relationship with God as she grew older.

“I think I have felt very disconnected from God in so many ways this past year, and probably for a long time now,” Buchanan said. “I think that I’m really trying to strengthen my relationship back.”

Farrell said he believes young people are not only in need of faith and guidance today, but ready to accept it.

“This is a very unique generation,” Farrell said. “I’m glad, because my generation and the ones behind me, we’ve created some environments for this generation that are going to be extraordinarily difficult to overcome.”

One goal of the night, Farrell said, is to inspire and positively influence students as they leave campus for the summer.

“The church of Christ is a soul-seeking organization that wants not just to be in a holy huddle,” Farrell said. “We’re called to go and live as salt and light in a world that desperately needs hope, desperately needs help.”

During the service, Hillvue Heights co-lead pastor Jamie Ward called to anyone in the crowd who may struggle with their faith, as he did, to come before the stage.

“Some 40 years ago, somebody put a hand on my back and they prayed for me, that I wouldn’t make a shipwreck of my faith,” Ward said in reference to Paul’s first letter to Timothy, according to 1 Timothy 1:19, “There’s some of you here, that’s what you need.”

Ward invited the whole crowd to join him as he prayed over the dozens of students who descended from the stands.

“The Bible’s not full of stories of Jesus making people happy,” Ward said. “It’s full of stories of Jesus making people holy.”