Is this how a new Great Awakening begins?

 Consider the remarkable happenings recently at Asbury University. At the tiny Christian college in Wilmore, Ky., a few students decided to remain in Hughes Auditorium following the regular morning prayers on Feb. 8. The service had ended with a gospel choir, and some of the kids wanted to keep singing and praying together. Word of the spontaneous worship began to make the rounds. Before long, there were 50 students in the auditorium; by early afternoon, there were hundreds. Asbury president Kevin Brown sent out a two-sentence email: "There's worship happening in Hughes. You're welcome to join."

Join they did. More and more students poured into the auditorium, with many remaining through the night and into a second day, then into a third, and a fourth. "I have never seen Hughes this packed," wrote Alexandra Presta, the editor of the campus newspaper. "Very few seats remain empty, but people crowd the walls, the floor, and the balcony."

Word of the revival spread. The crowd of worshipers grew even larger, as residents from the surrounding area, and then from around the country, began surging to Asbury. The university opened additional buildings to accommodate the overflow. "A nonstop Kentucky prayer 'revival' is going viral on TikTok, and people are traveling thousands of miles to take part," NBC News reported on Feb. 15. By then the hashtag #AsburyRevival had appeared in tens of millions of online posts. An estimated 15,000 people were participating in each day's prayer meetings, which were kept deliberately low-key — no projector screens, no high-tech bells and whistles, no electronic instruments.

Finally, on Feb. 24, the university announced that no more revival services would be held. This was partly in recognition of the strain being placed on tiny Wilmore's meager municipal facilities, and partly so that students and staff could return to regular academics. All told, the religious "outpouring," as many called it, had attracted students from more than 260 colleges, according to Inside Higher Ed. Similar revivals broke out at other schools, including Lee University in Tennessee, Cedarville University in Ohio, Samford University in Alabama, Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, and Ohio State University.

Participants repeatedly noted that what happened at Asbury wasn't planned, and no one had scripted the prayer services. The majority of those participating were members of Generation Z, the age group most likely to reject organized religion — and also most likely to experience depression, suicidal impulses, and other forms of psychological distress. As in earlier Christian revival movements, those taking part reported being cured of afflictions. But unlike previous revivals, noted The New York Times, "accounts of healing at Asbury are overwhelmingly about mental health, trauma, and disillusionment."