‘Asbury Revival’ marathon worship enters 10th day, similar services grow on other college campuses

An evangelical service in Wilmore, Kentucky has been celebrating nonstop for 10 days in what many of its participants are calling a “revival.” 

The event is being held at Asbury University — a small Christian college — and has seen participants fly in from across the country to participate as it enters its tenth straight day of worship.

The movement began after students refused to leave following a chapel service last Wednesday, and the services have since grown to pack the school’s chapel with worshipers from all over the country, according to Christianity Today.

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The “Asbury Revival,” as it has been called, echoes a widely reported worship event that took place decades ago.

A revival erupted at the same university in 1970 in Hughes Auditorium. The service began inside the campus chapel before more and more students arrived to worship, pray and sing over the course of 144 consecutive hours.

In Protestant Evangelical Christianity, a “revival” is a sudden and enthusiastic restoration of religious vigor among a church, town or larger geographic region.

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Evangelical Christians view revivals as a reconnection with the divine after a period of spiritual drought.

The Asbury Revival is having cascading effects as congregations elsewhere in the United States join in the marathon worship.

Students at Samford University in Alabama are now entering their fourth day of continuous prayer. 

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Samford’s service, held in Reid Chapel, began as usual before Thursday classes were canceled due to weather. 

Church-goers stayed and continued the meeting until it began to be compared to the Asbury event. 

“For over seven hours, students gathered in Reid [Wednesday] and well into the morning worshiping, praying, sharing testimonies and reading Scripture,” Samford Ministry Training Institute executive director Kevin Blackwell told the Alabama Baptist.

He continued, “It was totally organic and student-led. At 2 a.m. there were 150–200 students in the chapel seeking God’s face and praying for revival on our campus. God is up to something!”

Similar meetings have been reported at Cedarville University in Ohio and Lee University in Tennessee.