Asbury University, located in Wilmore, Kentucky, is a small Christian university that is grounded in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition, though it’s largely nondenominational. Last Wednesday, February 8, students met in their chapel, Hughes Auditorium, for their weekly requirement, and a mysterious and amazing thing happened. Students didn’t leave. They stayed, feeling drawn by the Holy Spirit to worship, confess, pray, and share testimonies — and they haven’t left yet.

Asbury is experiencing what is called a revival amongst Christians. Students are coming to faith and experiencing the complete love, grace, and holiness of God in Hughes Auditorium. As theological professor Tom McCall, who teaches at the seminary across the street, described it: “When I arrived, I saw hundreds of students singing quietly. They were praising and praying earnestly for themselves and their neighbors and our world — expressing repentance and contrition for sin and interceding for healing, wholeness, peace, and justice.”

A revival is a renewal of faith or a reawakening of the church. There have been several revivals throughout church history and specifically in America. The Second Great Awakening is credited with spurring the abolition of slavery once and for all in the United States. Asbury’s seems to be a great awakening among Gen Z Christians. It is amazing to see the outpouring of love and praise that these students, faculty, and surrounding community are participating in.

McCall also noted that this is not the first revival that Asbury has experienced. It also experienced a similar revival in 1970 when students had a weeklong vigil of worship and praise.

It’s also interesting to note that, though it’s largely nondenominational, Asbury is considered a Methodist university with groundings in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. This is important because Methodists have recently voted to split due to differences regarding LGBTQ+ behavior and other cultural questions that are polarizing the American public at large. Asbury stands by the biblical view of marriage and sexual morality. Gen Z is the generation that has been heavily groomed by the LGBTQ+ lobby. It is a generation that is looking for its identity, and these students have proclaimed that their identity is in Christ.

It’s not simply limited to Asbury University students, either. Students from surrounding universities have come to Hughes Auditorium to join their bothers and sisters in worship. According to Christianity Today, those schools include the University of Kentucky, the University of the Cumberlands, Purdue University, Indiana Wesleyan University, Ohio Christian University, Transylvania University, Midway University, Lee University, Georgetown College, Mt. Vernon Nazarene University, and there are still more coming.

This movement of the Holy Spirit has been well documented on social media, and people from all over the United States are flocking to the presence of the Lord. According to WKYT, a local new source, “People from as far away as Oregon have heard about this and are showing up to sing, raise their hands in praise or kneel down to pray.”

This revival is an amazing event and is bringing hope to those who have been fervently praying for God to move in a mighty way. What an amazing experience. What an amazing God.