By Cavan Burns | Reporter

In the summer of 2009, going into his senior year at Baylor, Carter Hopkins felt the Lord call him. When Hopkins returned to campus in the fall, Vertical Ministries was born, and he hit the ground running with co-founder Bo Weathersbee right beside him.

“We had no money for a band, venue or speaker, and God provided all three of those,” Hopkins said.

The first speaker for Vertical was Afshin Ziafat, who was able to recruit the Jeff Johnson Band to help with worship. Hopkins said Ziafat agreed to speak for free, telling Hopkins that if it turned into something down the line, then they could pay him.

The very first night, Vertical gathered in the Hippodrome Theatre in downtown Waco, packed with people ready to praise the Lord.

“We didn’t know if fifty people would show up … we honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Hopkins said. “It worked because God wanted it to work.”

Today, there are many new faces in Vertical, as Hopkins graduated in 2010. Despite this, Vertical’s mission remains the same.

According to its website, Vertical was created as a non-denominational, student-led ministry that seeks to challenge college students to actively pursue an authentic and “vertical” relationship with God.

Vertical has been in action for over a decade, and Hopkins now works as a CEO for his company, Pursuit Sales Solutions. While Hopkins still resides on the board for Vertical, Dale Wallace is now in charge of its day-to-day operations as executive director. Wallace is also responsible for finding student leadership to fill Vertical’s four positions: president, vice president of missions, vice president of compliance and vice president of operations.

Oxnard, Calif., junior Stewart Cox has been serving as the president of Vertical since last spring.

“Our whole goal is just to pursue Jesus,” Cox said. “It’s by the Lord’s grace and favor that we are still doing that.”

Cox said Vertical has helped him learn more about reverence for the Lord. He also said he enjoys getting “a front-row seat” to watch what God is doing in his classmates’ lives.

“We’ve got something so good as Christians,” Cox said. “I just don’t want to hide it.”

Vertical’s worship nights are from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Monday on Fountain Mall.