InterVarsity is one of the spiritual heirs of the Haystack Prayer Meeting that was held in August of 1806. As a small group of Williams College students met to pray for foreign missions, a summer storm forced them under the shelter of a nearby haystack. The beginning of the American Foreign Missions movement is traced from that event.
The centennial of the Haystack Prayer Meeting was held in 1906. Plans are being made to mark the milestone once again at its bicentennial next summer. An article at urbana.org has more details.
Another bicentennial observance is being planned for the InterVarsity-sponsored Urbana 06 convention being in St. Louis, December 27-31, 2006.
