Stephen A. Seamands

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Plug-In: Latest Asbury revival is big news, from the New York Times to Christianity Today

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Plug-In: Latest Asbury revival is big news, from the New York Times to Christianity Today

Good morning, Weekend Plug-in readers!

It’s the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This week’s roundup features news about former President Jimmy Carter’s faith and Saddleback Church’s exit, for now, from the Southern Baptist Convention.

But we start with a story Plug-in already covered last week.

I explain why in 3, 2, 1 …

What To Know: The Big Story

Asbury revival, again: When the New York Times, Christianity Today and Terry Mattingly (IYKYK) all jump on the same story, it must be a big deal.

Such is the case with the spiritual phenomenon that drew thousands to a small Christian college in Kentucky.

The spontaneous, 16-day gathering that ended Thursday was like “‘Woodstock’ for Christians.” So declares Times religion writer Ruth Graham’s front-page story today.

Behind the scenes: “Chocolate chip cookies. ‘All the Chick-fil-A.’ Meetings in a storage closet. Flow charts.”

Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman goes in depth to explore how Asbury University officials tried to “honor what is happening.”

‘Like deja vu all over again’: In his “On Religion” column for the Universal Syndicate, Mattingly delves into the history of past Asbury revivals.

They go all the way back to 1908, as alumnus and professor Stephen A. Seamands notes in Mattingly’s column:

“The wildness of these events is that they’re actually un-wild. The atmosphere is serene, deep and at times rather quiet,” he said. “It’s like a veil is pulled back and students see Jesus for the first time — Jesus manifested in a new and powerful way.”


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What is happening with the 'revival' at Asbury University? Only time will tell

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What is happening with the 'revival' at Asbury University? Only time will tell

The atmosphere in Hughes auditorium was electric as Asbury students -- many in tears -- streamed to the altar to pray, while worshippers sang hymns, mixed with Bible readings, testimonies and public prayers of repentance.

Administrators cancelled classes, grasping that this ordinary chapel service was the start of something bigger -- a 144-hour wave of worship that drew thousands to Wilmore, Kentucky, while similar revivals began on other Christian and secular campuses across the nation.

The year was 1970.

Then again, revivals rocked Asbury College -- now a liberal-arts university -- in 1908, 1921, 1950, 1958 and on other occasions. Historians will now add 2023.

The revival that began on February 8 is "like deja vu all over again," said Stephen A. Seamands, who was a senior in 1970 and returned to teach for nearly 40 years at Asbury Theological Seminary.

"The wildness of these events is that they're actually un-wild. The atmosphere is serene, deep and at times rather quiet," he said. "It's like a veil is pulled back and students see Jesus for the first time -- Jesus manifested in a new and powerful way."

Outsiders may assume that this two-week revival "is over," after Asbury leaders announced that services would be moved off campus, with students moving toward a regular academic and chapel schedule. At one point, as many as 20,000 people had flocked to central Kentucky.

"Never in my life will I forget this," said Asbury University President Kevin J. Brown, in a public statement. "Never in my life have I been so proud to say that I am a part of Asbury University. I write this with tears. The people here are so special."

Seamands said it "will take 30 years or so" to discern what happened. Revivals, he explained, begin with an awakening inside a Christian community -- that's stage one. True revivals, throughout history, have led to evangelism, missions and "efforts for social justice" at the national and global levels.

"It's also clear that this Asbury revival is about Gen Z and its hunger for genuine worship," said Seamands, referring to Americans born in the Internet age.


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Podcast: Is the Asbury revival a 'news' story? Let's seek journalism advice from Screwtape

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Podcast: Is the Asbury revival a 'news' story? Let's seek journalism advice from Screwtape

Throughout this week, I have been following the online reports about the remarkable day-after-day revival gatherings that are taking place at Asbury University in Kentucky.

If you know about Methodist and Holiness movements, it isn’t surprising that this kind of spiritual earthquake would take place — again — at this location (here are some Asbury library resources on the history of earlier revivals).

Years ago, I went to Asbury for a speaking engagement. I noticed that there were tissue boxes placed a regular intervals along the sanctuary prayer rail-kneeling area. In other words, this is a campus in which it is normal for worshippers to kneel in sorrow/joy (often part of the same experience) while offering prayers of petition or repentance. This is part of the spiritual DNA of this community.

While reading social-media offerings about the revival, I also ran regular Google News searches (sample here) to see if journalists — including those at elite publications — have been covering this event.

The pickings have been rather lean, for reasons we discussed during this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (CLICK HERE to tune that in). I found myself, in a kind of time-travel experience, imaging myself attempting to convince a newspaper editor that this mysterious, spiritual outbreak was a BIG. NEWS. STORY.

This led me, believe it or not, straight to “The Screwtape Letters,” by C.S. Lewis, the famous Oxford scholar and Christian apologist. In this classic, global bestseller a master demon writes letters to his nephew Wormwood, an apprentice in need of advice on how to lead a human soul into hell. The relevant text, in my musings on the “news value” of this Asbury revival, is Letter 25. The key passage states:

“The real trouble about the set your patient is living is that it is merely Christianity. … What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call ‘Christianity AND.’ You know –– Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform. If they must be Christians let them at least be Christians with a difference. Substitute for faith itself some Fashion with a Christian colouring.”

In other words, national journalists may be trying to figure out what the “AND” is in this story.


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