EVANGELICAL Asbury Revival Spreads Among Gen Z ‘Hungry for It’ Jeffrey Walton on February 24, 2023 Jeff Walton https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/02/24/2023-revival/ As public worship at Asbury University concludes following two weeks of unplanned, student-led worship, other colleges and universities report that the phenomenon has reached their campuses, including at least three secular schools.
Student-led chapel services described as “unscripted” have been underway at Lee University and Belmont University in Tennessee, Samford University in Alabama, Cedarville University in Ohio, Regent University in Virginia and Baylor University in Texas. Kentucky schools Campbellsville University and University of the Cumberlands also report continuous prayer and worship gatherings. Lee and Regent are Pentecostal institutions, while Cedarville, Cumberlands, and Samford have Baptist roots. Belmont is non denominational. Some Roman Catholic student ministries now share about “a wellspring.”
‘Not Sure What To Call It’
“The stories of sharing are immense,” Asbury University Christian Studies and Philosophy Chair W. Brian Shelton told me in a telephone interview of those in three-hour lines to join in worship at the Wilmore, KY school. This past weekend, state police restricted public access to the main road leading into the 6,000 resident community, stating that it was already over capacity with between 20-25,000 visitors on Saturday alone. Read my coverage here.
Following this past Wednesday, public worship is held at off-campus locations. Only students and visitors aged 25 and younger are permitted into the Hughes Auditorium, which has a seating capacity of just under 1,500. Lee University officials also suspended the prayer services that began on February 13, as they reflect on next steps.
“The concern is that the students translate these experiences into long term spiritual growth,” relayed Dr. Dale M. Coulter of Pentecostal Theological Seminary (PTS), located on the Lee University campus. Coulter shared that Lee held a chapel service on Monday in which the campus pastor talked of spiritual disciplines and theologian Ignatius of Loyola.
“As with Asbury, people are not sure what to call it,” Coulter said in an email interview, characterizing PTS as being supportive but not involved in leadership decisions. Coulter notes reports of people rededicating their lives to Christ, deliverance from habits, and some healings. “University officials keep saying that it’s a student led prayer service but, at times, it has clearly become more than that.”
Students at Texas A&M University have seen gatherings unfold for the past three nights outside of Kyle Field in the College Station, Texas campus. In addition to the recurring themes of worship, repentance and prayer, there are reports of physical healing. Students at Northern Kentucky University have also reported at least 15 baptisms at a campus revival.
Generational Hunger
At Baylor, existing ministry services both off and on campus sparked student-led worship, according to Raylee Foster, a staff reporter with the Baylor Lariat enrolled as a Freshman at the Waco, Texas school. Foster, whose coverage brought my attention to the Baylor story, identified now-familiar practices: late night prayer time, confession, group gathering, and praise extending into the early hours of the morning.
“People say they have been praying for this for years,” Foster shared in a telephone interview. “Everyone on staff who has been praying for this is excited but, for students, a lot saw what was happening at Asbury and that something like this was possible in our generation – and hungry for it.”
Foster pointed to Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
“I think that stirred into hearts,” Foster said of the local gatherings. An annual event, FM72, convenes students to pray at Baylor for 72 hours and is planned for late March. The timing of what is now occurring at Baylor may increase the reach of that event, Foster predicts. “It’s interesting that this is lining up with that.”
The prospect of movements born out of this moment has precedent in past revivals. Baylor itself has a history of revival: a prayer gathering in the spring of 1945 continued across 90 days and began ministries that continue today.
“Mission flows from moments of encounter,” Coulter of PTS reflects. “To put it in medieval terms, we move out into the world after we have been caught up in the arms of the bridegroom. Ecstatic embrace with God fuels embrace of the other. I thank God today for that embrace.”
“Will this continue? I hope so. For how long? Who knows?”
“God is making known His claim on GenZ,” Regent University Director of Campus Ministries Dr. Jeff Gossmann wrote in an e-mail interview on Thursday. “This generation has suffered so much loss due to the pandemic. This current outpouring is like a Bar/Bat-Mitzvah for GenZ. It is their coming-of-age party, where Jesus says to them, ‘I see you. Welcome to the table.’ It is like the party that the prodigal son’s father threw for him upon his return.”
Gossmann, a Pentecostal Christian, was part of a group from Regent sent to visit Asbury University on February 15, describing it as both subdued and characterized by humility and “lack of hype.”
“They spoke without charisma, showmanship, dynamism, or attempt to stir emotions.”
While Gossmann and others from Regent University were at Asbury, students, faculty, and staff at the Virginia Beach school began gathering for unscripted prayer and worship. In response, a series of services has progressively grown in the number of participants. Those services, some extending for five hours, include Regent students sharing “brief exhortations from Scripture that the Holy Spirit highlighted during worship.”
“Many students have reported feeling renewed and encouraged by the presence of the Lord,” Gossman tells me. “The Lord is leading us to create space for repentance and renewal.”
People of varying ages, religious backgrounds and geographic origin continue to be drawn to several of these campuses. Asbury’s Shelton sees at least one commonality.
“They are looking for a greater source of hope.”
Has the ‘lightning’ of revival struck in the United States? By Wallace B. Henley, Exclusive Columnist| Wednesday, February 22, 2023
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/has-the-lightning-of-revival-struck-in-the-united-states.html revival, holy spirit, spiritual Soft focus of Christians raising their hands up to worship together in church revival meeting with an image of wooden cross over cloudy sky. | iStock/Getty Images/freedom007 Revival happened in Wales in 1904-1905, beginning with youth. Is it happening now in the United States?
In Wales, Evan Roberts, a coal miner barely out of his teens, had been struck by the lightning, and everyone with whom he came into contact was ignited, “I will never forget the lightning in his voice,” said Alun Morgan of Caerfarchell, an older man who was in contact with Evan in those days.
When the revival volt hit Evan Roberts, a church leader described Evan as “acting like an article of radium … a consuming fire which took away sleep, cleared the channels of tears and sped the wheel of prayer throughout this district.”
W.T. Stead, a skeptical journalist, would write that it seemed like “living energy had invaded Evan’s soul, burst all bonds, and overwhelmed him.”[1]
It happened to Evan during a prayer service on September 29, 1904. During that session, Evan began to sense “an irresistible influence” coming upon him as he listened to Pastor Seth Lloyd pray for God to “bend me!”
In a short time, the humble youth, a gangly former coal miner and blacksmith would be regarded as the leader of the revival.
Meanwhile, the lightning of revival had struck a teen-aged girl in a Calvinist Chapel in West Wales. A historian described Florrie Evans as “one of the highly significant figures” in the revival. During a church service, the pastor asked people to answer the question: What does Jesus mean to you?
Florrie, a new believer, could not be silent. “I love Jesus with all my heart,” she declared. With that, conviction spread audibly and tangibly throughout the room.
From those beginnings, a powerful revival began to spread throughout the country. And it was much needed. Churches had gone cold, and attendance had declined. Immorality and drunkenness were corrupting the society, destroying families and wrenching the beauty and life from Wales, which had been known as a land of inspiring worship music sung by mighty choirs
In 1902, David Howell, a prominent pastor, had written an open letter sounding the alarm.
Wales was headed for a train wreck spiritually, theologically, morally, and culturally. “The authority of the Bible and the foundational truths of Christianity were being judged in the court of reason and criticism,” he lamented. Pulpits were spiritually vacuous and pews deserted.
As Howell described the crises of his time, Roger Cohen, in a New York Times article, wrote decades later about the “unraveling” of our present age: “The fabric of society frayed. Democracy looked quaint and outmoded beside new authoritarianisms … politicians, haunted by their incapacity, played on the fears of their populations. Dystopia was a vogue word… the great rising nations of vast populations held the fate of the world in their hands but hardly seemed to care … until it was too late and people could see the Great Unraveling for what it was and what it has wrought.”
Fruit is proof of genuine revival. Thus, the most important question: What was “wrought” from the Welsh Revival? Consider this:
Within eight months more than 100,000-150,000 people had joined churches. David Matthews, a revival participant, summed it up: “It is a fact that large numbers have been added to the churches. Not merely converted or restored, or helped on, but to become full members…” Matthew continued: “That which costly legislation, cumbersome philanthropic effort, or organizations have failed to do, here the Spirit of God is doing with ease and thoroughness surprising to behold. Drunkards give up drinking without pledge or pressure … quarrels are healed without the courts … Homes made happy … Debts paid without legislation … Streets purified without threat or fine … The quest for holiness became the passion of the man in the street”. Matthews also noted that “every pub in Llanfair in Anglesey was closed.” F.B. Meyer wrote: “Judging from the fruits. In the vast multitude who have been truly converted and have joined the churches, and the transformation wrought over wide districts in the country. It is impossible to doubt that there has been a deep and real work by the Spirit of God.” Vynrwy Morgan, a critic of Evan Roberts and the revival, later said that “men who had been regarded as either too old or too wicked to be touched and saved, surrendered fully and absolutely, and have since become useful citizens and church members.” Again, the fruit is the real proof of revival, and the standard of measurement of the revival that may be forming now in America through the students could be a hint of what is to come. So, think now about all those students “calling down lightning” on college campuses in our day.
Is revival on the horizon? We need to join in spirit and soul at least their worship and intercession. It’s either revival or “unraveling.”
And if there is an end to the campus rallies, hopefully, the students will continue “calling down lightning,” worship, and repentance on behalf of themselves, their institutions, and the nation.