The SkyePod — “Looking Back on the Asbury ‘Revival’”

Host: Skye Jethani
Guest: Dr. Kevin Brown, President of Asbury University
Date: March 6, 2026
Episode Theme:
A thoughtful conversation reflecting on the 2023 Asbury “Revival,” exploring the nature of revival, generational hunger for spirituality, and the limits of data when interpreting contemporary religious dynamics among young adults.

Main Topics and Episode Flow

1. Context: Revisiting Asbury in Light of National Revival Discourse

• (00:00 - 03:05)
  • Skye discusses widespread belief that churches must relentlessly pursue cultural relevance, contrasted with young people's growing sense of cultural exhaustion.
  • Introduces Dr. Kevin Brown, noting his unique start as President of Asbury just before COVID-19 disrupted campus life.
  • Dr. Brown references Skye’s 2020 “Hinge of History” sermon during his inauguration and the rapid onset of the pandemic.

2. Revivals, Data, and "Vibes"

• (03:05 - 06:12)
  • The conversation references Dr. Brown’s Deseret News editorial, which examined media debates about whether there is a religious revival among young Americans.
  • Discusses sociologist Ryan Burge's data-driven skepticism: no measurable uptick in church attendance or religious identification among young people.
  • Dr. Brown’s position: agrees with the data but argues important dynamics may be missed, stating:

    “There absolutely is something to see here. There's other data that there's something going on, particularly with young adults, college students.” (03:45)

  • Highlights tension between statistical analysis and the less-quantifiable “vibes” of spiritual stirring.

3. The Asbury 2023 “Outpouring”: What Happened?

• (06:12 - 11:58)
  • Dr. Brown recounts the start: a routine chapel service that led to 20 students lingering, then 16 days of round-the-clock prayer and worship, organically drawing 50,000-70,000 people to campus.
  • The Asbury team deliberately used “outpouring” rather than “revival” or “awakening,” to avoid theological baggage and let history assign the correct term:

    “We've used the expression outpouring to describe that...it could be an outpouring of God's spirit, hunger received, hunger met...without assigning...theologically freighted language.” (06:59)

  • The event remained low-key at first—primarily Asbury students. Faculty and staff refrained from self-promotion, fund-raising, or marketing:

    “Our marketing team quickly decided, do not post anything...never had a discussion about that. They just knew that was the right thing to do.” (08:36)

  • Notably, nearly 300 colleges/universities were represented during those two weeks. International visitors arrived, too.

4. Leadership & Stewardship During the Outpouring

• (11:58 - 16:22)
  • Skye praises Asbury’s culture: the coordinated restraint exercised by faculty and administrators.
  • Dr. Brown describes his leadership approach as “imaginative interdependence”—leaning on colleagues’ instincts when he couldn’t personally see the next step:

    “...my role was to have this kind of imaginative interdependence. Like I can't see what's happening, but I can see it through your imagination.” (13:09)

  • Leadership’s consensus: be hospitable, but recognize this was a “fruit of our mission, but it's not our mission.”
  • The group sensed, spiritually and practically, a need to bring the gathering to a close, to avoid making the event about Asbury rather than allowing it to spread outward.

5. Navigating Return to "Normal" and the Social Ripples

• (16:22 - 20:41)
  • Skye asks how (and when) the university knew to resume regular functioning.
  • Dr. Brown cites intuitive discernment amid logistical pressures:

    “It was the Lord...some of our students were understandably freaked out...thousands of people coming to campus.” (16:56)

  • Local infrastructure was overwhelmed (e.g., 15,000 people in one day), prompting city-wide advisories.
  • Brown introduces an evocative metaphor:

    “A fire is brightest when it is largest...but a fire is hottest when...moving into burning hot embers...even though it might look like something is dying down, could actually a kind of heat be increasing?” (18:13)

  • The university recognized the need to send this “heat” out rather than keep it centered on Asbury.

6. Protecting Students Amid National Attention

• (20:41 - 25:28)
  • Skye queries how Asbury shielded students from opportunists seeking to exploit the event.
  • Practical steps included: discouraging streaming/recording, providing security, and setting up controlled lines; overflow venues across campus were opened.
  • Dr. Brown recounts incidents where those with “mal intent” simply found their plans dissolving:

    “There were others who came, I think, that had mal intent and nothing ever came of it.” (23:49)

  • Cites “the Lord’s guiding hand of protection” as key, given the absence of any major mishaps (including potential measles outbreak).

7. The Deeper Question: Why Now? Gen Z and the Spiritual Moment

• (25:28 - END at 27:30)
  • Post-2023, Dr. Brown reflects on what’s animating today’s students.
  • Young people are emerging from a backdrop of social upheaval, political dysfunction, global unrest, pandemic trauma, and public moral failures among Christian leaders:

    “Look at this, like completely dysfunctional political environment. There's economic uncertainty...Look at the church...very public moral failures among leaders, which creates skepticism. So I ended all that by just saying I think they want something more.” (26:23)

  • A student challenges this:

    “We don't want something more, we want something less.” (27:18)
    —suggesting Gen Z desires simplicity, authenticity, and less institutional baggage, not more spectacle or programmatic “solutions.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dr. Brown on measuring revival:

  “I'm not trying to say, oh, you're wrong, and my narratives or my anecdotes beat up your statistical data. So I agree with him there. I just think it's a little curious...There's more to the story than that.” (03:21)

• On Asbury’s internal culture:

  “There was never a discussion about not prioritizing Gen Z and our students. That always seemed to be on the forefront of people's minds.” (09:29)

• On leadership’s response:

  "I think later folks could see some things through my imagination as a fiduciary for the school, as someone who's supposed to steward our mission and our students." (13:47)

• On discerning when to end the event:

  “A fire is brightest when it is largest...but a fire is hottest when it is...simmering into these hot embers. So even though it might look like something is dying down, could actually a kind of heat be increasing?” (18:13)

• On Gen Z’s spiritual hunger:

  “We don't want something more, we want something less.” (27:18, citing a student)

Key Timestamps

• 00:00–03:05: Setting the frame—data, revival, and the pursuit of cultural relevance in the church
• 06:12–11:58: The full account of the 2023 Asbury “outpouring”
• 13:09–16:22: Leadership, consensus, and spiritual discernment through “imaginative interdependence”
• 16:56–20:41: Practical and spiritual reasons for ending the event; “bonfire and embers” metaphor
• 21:47–25:28: Protecting the student body from opportunism and chaos
• 26:07–27:18: Gen Z’s reaction and the quest for less, not more, religious “stuff”

Takeaway

This episode of the SkyePod offers a nuanced exploration of how the Asbury 2023 “revival” was experienced and stewarded by campus leadership, raising provocative questions about how we should (and shouldn’t) measure spiritual movements today. Dr. Brown and Skye Jethani present a picture of real-time discernment, humility, and institutional restraint, framing the Asbury event as both unique and representative of deeper generational yearnings—yearnings that might defy easy quantification but deserve serious reflection.