Asbury Revival Points to a Clear Shift in Gen Z’s Desire for God

March 13, 2023

Reflecting Absence... On this day in history, construction began on the memorial and museum to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 attacks (2006).

Asbury Revival Points to a Clear Shift in Gen Z’s Desire for God

The Christian revival at Kentucky’s Asbury University led countless young people to Jesus, proving there is great hope for the next generation in their yearning to know God.

On February 8, what started as a few students singing and praying at the small Christian university turned into a 16-day prayer and worship service that?drew roughly 50,000 attendees.?

The event, known as the Asbury Revival,?inspired Christians around the world?in their desire to help shepherd a new generation of believers.?

Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, is a private, nondenominational Christian college with an enrollment of fewer than 1,900 students in a city of 6,000. Across the street sits Asbury Theological Seminary.?

Asbury University has a?history of great revivals. According to the school’s website, there have been numerous instances in which the Holy Spirit has swept through the campus and across the U.S.

In the last hundred years, Asbury experienced eight spontaneous revivals, often lasting days to weeks.

Even though the school’s campus is small, during the most recent revival, services grew to fill five overflow buildings and a grass lawn. People approaching Wilmore from faraway cities and states encountered a 2 1/2-half mile backup of cars trying to reach the small, two-stoplight community.

After becoming overwhelmed with outside visitors, the school administrators officially ended the gathering,?but that didn’t stop the movement. The revival service was relocated to another site 30 minutes away at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Remarkable testimonies from this event led some to wonder if the revival could be the beginning of a Great Awakening.?

With the Lexington venue in full swing, Asbury University continued to host evening services geared toward college-age and high school students, culminating with the National Collegiate Day of Prayer on February 23.?

In the wake of the revival, Asbury President Dr. Kevin Brown encouraged the movement to continue well beyond the school’s campus, writing:

Regardless of how we choose to describe what we have seen and experienced over the last several weeks (revival, renewal, awakening, outpouring) —?this movement is not finished. Other colleges and churches are experiencing similar services. Rather, we are encouraging the continued movement of God through other people, places and ministries.

The movement was indeed not finished. News of the Asbury revival’s impact spread rapidly. There were numerous reports of revivals popping up at other Christian universities. During an event at Texas A&M in College Station, Antioch United Methodist Church attendees shared what they witnessed to their Facebook page:

Jesus is moving at Texas A&M! It's real! Met for 7 hours! STUDENT LED, no program! Closest thing I've ever seen to ACTS. Testimonies, worship, praying for healing, prayers for boldness to witness to the lost at TAMU. SUPPORT/PRAY for the Holy Spirit to lead and to continue this. Amen!

Inspirational Insight

The multigenerational decline in Christian faith is turning. There is strong evidence that teens, particularly on the tail end of Generation Z, are returning to God and the Church.

A 2022 poll conducted by the evangelical Barna Group found that well over half of American teens between the ages of 13 and 17 identify as Christian, and?six in 10 say they want to learn more about Jesus.

Additionally, those teens say they trust the Bible as a go-to resource. Praise the Lord! Our youth are participating in a significant?cultural shift?as they share their desire to know more about God.?

Humanity has a profound need for God. After two years of lockdowns and isolation, political and social unrest, and the prolific use of social media as a platform to spout opinions and biases, people yearn for genuine face-to-face connection.

The Asbury revival and subsequent gatherings of youth in Christian colleges across the nation served to fill that need for countless thousands. We pray this powerful movement continues.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31, NIV)