Revival

Until about a week ago, I had never heard of Asbury University. Someone pointed out that there was something going on there. I had to look up where it was. “Oh, it’s in Kentucky.” That was my response.

I went to the school website. There wasn’t anything on the website pointing to a specific event going on. Then I heard some more about what was going on. And finally the R word got thrown into the mix — “Revival!” Here’s the thing — I’m not a big fan of the word. Maybe that’s just me. I don’t come from an evangelical background. I was raised Roman Catholic and now I’m Lutheran. I do very much appreciate the mystical side of faith though. St. Francis of Assisi is my favorite saint. He experienced the stigmata — you don’t get more mystical than that as far as I’m concerned.

In college, our Newman club (the Catholic club on a Protestant campus) traveled to Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH for some events, including worship. We went to Catholic conferences where which felt almost revival like-ish — well, as close as you can get anyway. But still not the same thing. Liturgically minded traditions just have a different way of encountering God. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just different. As with most things — there are positives and there are negatives. There are things that appeal to people and things that put people off.

So apparently there’s a revival going on at Ashbury University — or someone decided to label it that and the label caught on with other people. And here’s the thing. I don’t really have a thought about it. I haven’t watch…