Part 1 —- Remember the Asbury Revival…or “Awakening”…or “Outpouring” or “TBA”(…or well, do you remember it?)

“A fire is hottest when it is smoldering.”

That’s what Kevin J. Brown wrote in a piece we’ll look at next time.

If you’re going, “Joe, what’s an Asbury?” let me point you to an open source —

The 2023 Asbury revival was a Christian revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky.^[3] The revival was sparked by students spontaneously staying in Hughes Auditorium following a regularly scheduled chapel service on February 8, 2023. Following the gathering, Asbury President Kevin Brown sent out a brief two-sentence email: “There’s worship happening in Hughes. You’re welcome to join.”^[4] The news of the phenomenon quickly spread through social media and in Christian online publications.^[5] The revival has been compared to similar revivals at Asbury, notably one that took place in 1970, which had far-reaching consequences in Methodism, culture of the United States, and the growth of the Jesus movement.^[6]Notably, news of the revival largely spread on social media, as the participants were mainly members of Generation Z.^[7] It was attended by approximately 15,000 people each day.^[8] By its end, the revival brought 50,000–70,000 visitors to Wilmore, representing more than 200 academic institutions and multiple countries.^[9][10]

— Yup, that’s Wikipedia. Want to know more? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Asbury_revival

And in the interest of full disclosure, yes indeed I did enjoy four years of college there. Four very formative years. Several of my heroes were/are there. Ask me sometime why Dr. Eugene M. Leckrone even/ever advised me to go to Asbury…and why I did.

Finally, rest assured we’ll get back to this from time to time right here.

FOOTNOTES:

1.  “Outpouring”. Asbury University. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
2.  Willingham, A. J. (February 18, 2023). “A nonstop worship gathering at a Kentucky school echoes an old Christian tradition”. CNN. Archivedfrom the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
3.  “Outpouring”. Asbury University. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
4.  Kast, Monica (February 22, 2023). “As Asbury revival winds down, participants say experience ‘redirected our priorities'”. Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
5.  B. J. Oropeza, “The Current Revival in Asbury: Sensing the Presence of God and 4 Principles from the Past Archived February 25, 2023, at the Wayback Machine” Patheos/General Christian/In Christ (February 16, 2023)
6.  Presta, Alexandra (February 8, 2023). “Revival strikes Asbury once again”. The Asbury Collegian. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
7.  “A nonstop Kentucky prayer ‘revival’ is going viral on TikTok, and people are travelling thousands of miles to take part”. NBC News. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16,2023.
8.  “Asbury relocates revival off campus, following overcrowding – Premier Christian News | Headlines, Breaking News, Comment & Analysis”. premierchristian.news. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
9.  Lanum, Nikolas (February 25, 2023). “Asbury revival brings ‘beautiful disruption’ and multi-generational community to post-COVID world”. Fox News. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
10.  “Asbury University student uses map to track worshipers who came to ‘revival’ services”. WDRB. Retrieved February 28, 2023.