'GOD IS NOT DEAD:' Student-led Christian revival on campus is attracting thousands
A student-led revival on Asbury University’s campus has lasted since February 8 and has attracted thousands of worshipers from across the globe.
Students finding home at the revival follows a trend of students fleeing woke universities to receive education from Christian liberal arts institutions.
A student-led revival at Asbury University continues to attract thousands of students across the globe and spark similar events at other universities.
The revival began after a school chapel service on February 8 that University President Kevin Brown described as “ordinary” and “unremarkable” to NBC. But the performance of a student-led worship choir following the service sparked a call to perpetual praise, which has continued for over a week and a half.
After having gone viral on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, as many as 5,000 worshipers of all ages from across the country have flocked to the small town of Wilmore, Kentucky, a town of less than 7,000 people.
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Worshipers traveling from Hawaii, Massachusetts, Canada, and Singapore have been welcomed into the congregation, according to NBC.
Asbury student body president Alison Perfater told Tucker Carlson on Thursday that there are students from Indonesia and Brazil also in attendance.
#asburyrevival
The next generation wants to see God move! Don’t allow anyone to convince you otherwise.
Invest in them. Reach them. Pray with them.
Keep praying for the Asbury Revival pic.twitter.com/k6huI9H9O5— Jay Strack (@Jstrack007) February 17, 2023
Despite the massive wave of attention on social media and from the national press, the event is not flashy or outlandish.
“What’s happening here at the Hughes Auditorium,” says Evangelist Nick Hall in a recent op-ed, “is incredibly simple, humble, and ordinary.”
“There isn’t a single ‘known’ figure on the platform. It’s students leading the way alongside a few campus ministers. It’s raw worship.”
Gen Z is on fire for God! Check out this powerful message from a college student who traveled to the #AsburyRevival.
”This is revival. It isn’t hype. It’s ordinary people crying out for a move of God in our generation...and it’s about to spread to the nations.” pic.twitter.com/eawneHHAsV— Caleb Parke (@calebparke) February 15, 2023
Brown told NBC that the university has not publicized the event out of “an abundance of respect towards the experience of our students.”
Since the institution was founded in 1890, Asbury has had eight revivals on its campus, the most recent before this year’s being in 2006 where a chapel service lasted for four continuous days.
GOD IS NOT DEAD!
At Asbury University in Wilmore KY, a prayer meeting has been going on nonstop since Wednesday, 24hrs a day.
A revival is coming. God has not left us. pic.twitter.com/gcSjSc4iLm— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) February 13, 2023
Before the revival of February 8, 2023, the longest revival at Asbury lasted from February 3 to February 9, 1970, during which time the university canceled classes to allow for faculty and student participation.
In the wake of the current Asbury revival, other student-led worship events are popping up at other colleges as well.
Kevin Blackwell, Assistant to the President of Samford University in Alabama, made a statement that his students have been leading a continuous worship service since Wednesday. “For over 7 hours students gathered in [the chapel]... worshipping, praying, sharing testimonies, and reading Scripture.” By 2:00 the next morning, “there were 150-200 students in the chapel,” said Blackwell.
Beck Taylor, President of Samford College, commented on the development, saying, “God is doing something fresh on our campuses. And it’s exactly what we need!”
This trend of Gen Z students interested in faith can also be seen in an increase in applications and admissions to Christian liberal arts institutions while most woke schools are struggling with enrollment declines due to their leftist biases.
Perfater summarized her impression of the event at Asbury by saying, “There’s a young army of believers who are rising to claim Christianity, the faith, as their own, as a young generation and as a free generation, and that’s why people can’t get enough.”
Samford responded to Campus Reform, saying it does not plan to issue an official statement at this time.
Campus Reform has contacted Asbury for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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