'Asbury revival' worshippers gather for continuous service
Worshippers at Asbury University's Hughes Auditorium gather on Feb. 14, 2023, part of what participants are calling the "Asbury revival. (NickHallPulse / Instagram)
A Christian university in Kentucky is looking to move its around-the-clock prayer services off-campus as a professor called for the "public phase" of the revival to wind down amid overcrowding concerns.
Asbury University is planning to hold its final public evening service Sunday and move revival services off-campus later this week as tens of thousands have descended on the small town of Wilmore.
The school is also working with the mayor of Wilmore to address logistical issues as the town of 6,000 people strains to accommodate the massive numbers pouring in from around the world, according to local CBS affiliate WKYT.
The movement began after students refused to leave following a chapel service on Feb. 8, and the services have since grown to pack the school's auditorium and have spilled out into other parts of the community.
Local restaurants and hotels are scrambling to keep up with demand, and there are more people in town than the number of available bathrooms, according to Fox 16.
Worshippers lift their hands during a service in the chapel of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. (Asbury University)
Beginning Monday, the afternoon service will be accessible to everyone while the evening service will only admit high schoolers and individuals aged 25 or below, according to local WDRB.
The last public evening service was scheduled to take place Sunday at 7:30, though afternoon services will continue to be open to the public until Wednesday at 2 p.m. Services will officially move off-campus starting Friday.
"We recognize life for the students had to return to normal, they have to go to school, they have midterms next week," Abby Laub, Asbury's communications director, told the local outlet. "They know this is a gift, they have received it as a gift, so we are going to charge them with now you take this to your job, your family, your church."
Students raise their hands during a service in the chapel at Asbury University, which has seen participants flocking in nationwide to witness its revival. (Asbury University)
Craig Keener, who serves as a professor of biblical studies at nearby Asbury Theological Seminary, the revival's "public phase" should "wind down" for the sake of students.
"The public phase needs to wind down soon—right now there are twice as many visitors in town as residents and some lines stretched into the next block," Keener wrote in a Facebook post.
"Many of us were praying for revival for our university and seminary," Keener continued. "We didn't realize how many others were thirsty, now filling the university's auditorium, front lawn, seminary chapels, a Baptist church, a Christian church, a Vineyard and Methodist church, plus some of the seminary cafeteria and gymnasium."
ASBURY REVIVAL IS A CHRISTIAN WAKE-UP CALL: LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AND EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
A 1955 view of Hughes Memorial Auditorium at Asbury University, where church services have continued around the clock since Feb. 8. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)
Noting how he would not even attempt to enter the school's main building, Keener advised that "the students need to be our central focus."
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The professor clarified that he was not calling for an end to the revival, but was rather "marveling" because of "logistical limitations and recognizing the transition that I think is already the leaders' direction. The point is not to shut down outpouring but to decentralize it and keep the focus on students."
Similar movements have reportedly spread to Christian campuses such as Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, and Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.
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