- A Christian college in Kentucky went viral on TikTok as students worshipped for days on end.
- The spontaneous event drew in huge crowds who heard about it through social media.
A spontaneous Christian worship event at a small college in Kentucky is being dispersed after it went viral on TikTok and crowds in their thousands got too large for townspeople to handle, according to its principle.
On February 8, students at Asbury University, a private Christian college in Wilmore, Kentucky, gathered for a regular, scheduled chapel service but ended up staying in the auditorium for days on end, in what staff say has been a completely unplanned act of 24/7 group prayer.
@worshiptoday Pray that this continues to spread! Jesus we need you more than ever before ❤️ (Video via Ben Bland/FB) #asbury #asburyrevival #revival ♬ original sound - Worship Today
Videos taken by those in attendance were posted on TikTok, where they went viral, with many labeling the event a revival — a religious service that can stretch for a prolonged period and intends to revitalize the spiritual life of its members and attract new ones.
The hashtag #asburyrevival has 77.9 million views, and videos show huge crowds gathered outside the university's Hughes Auditorium building, as well as vast numbers of people singing Christian songs inside.
A large number of captions on the videos, some of which appear to have been posted by attendees and others which have been reposted and reshared by other users, point to the fact that many people in the crowds look young, despite reports which suggest that those belonging to Generation Z are less likely to participate in religious institutions in comparison to older people.
One creator addressed the idea that Gen Z is "leaving the church" in a caption under a video of the service, writing, "We are leaving spaces where God is not free to move. We have an urgency to pursue what is real and true. We don't want a performance. We want the authentic presence of God."
@unapologetic.ally “Generation Z is leaving the church” No. We are leaving religion. We are leaving spaces where God is not free to move. We have an urgency to pursue what is real and true. We don’t want a performance. We want the authentic presence of God. These are the moments I could dwell in forever. This is just the beginning of what is to come. #asburyuniversity #asbury #asburyrevival #revival #genz #genzchristians ♬ original sound - Ally
Local CBS affiliate WKYT-TV reported that tens of thousands of visitors have been drawn into Wilmore, which has a population of just over 6,000 people, at various points across the event, which has now been going on for 13 days.
"It has absolutely been social media that is the mechanism that people found out about this," Mark Whitworth, Asbury University's vice president of communications, told NBC.
In a video statement shared on February 19 to the Asbury University website, Dr. Kevin J. Brown, the university's principal, said that crowds at the event had gotten so big that school staff and town officials no longer had the resources to accommodate everyone, adding that local authorities had been called upon to redirect traffic away from the town.
@carew_ellington YESHUA. YOU ARE SO GOOD #christian #asburyrevival ♬ original sound - Carew Ellington
Brown said that the university was cooperating with other Kentucky-based venues to host services around the area, while evening services at the college would continue for high school and college-aged students until February 23, with large-scale public worship concluding at the venue on February 20.
"What we have experienced on this campus these last few weeks is unlike anything I have ever experienced in my entire life," he said, adding, "Our town's institutions here, and our town's infrastructure, I just want to be clear, is just not in a place to absorb at this moment, the influx of the blessed guests that we have had come to Wilmore."
@desireecmorris #revival #asbury #asburyuniversity #asburyrevival #asburyrevival2023 #Jesus #fyp ♬ original sound - desireecmorris
The viral moment has drawn online attention from prominent Christian leaders and musicians who have commented on the events or traveled to witness them unfold.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence is among those who have tweeted about the gathering, writing, "The Lord is at work at Asbury and Lives will be Changed Forever" on February 17.
Insider reached out to Asbury University for comment.
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