Spiritual awakening breaks out at Florida university, drawing comparisons to Asbury

What began as an annual three-day worship conference has turned into a week-long season of continual prayer, praise and confession for students at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, drawing comparisons to the 2023 revival at Asbury University.

The movement of God began the morning of Feb. 11 when author and speaker Jennie Allen challenged attendees at the annual SEU Conference at nearby Victory Church to confess their sins out loud. Countless students did just that, and when the schedule indicated it was time for the session to end, they stayed around – singing, praying and worshiping.

“Time honestly stood still in that room,” Allen wrote on her Instagram.

Conference organizers canceled that day’s afternoon breakout sessions. School officials then canceled classes.

The extended time of worship stretched to six hours and then to 12 – at which time organizers moved students from the church to Bush Chapel on SEU’s campus, where the outpouring continued. Students worshiped through the night.

The gathering stretched to 24 hours, then 48, then 72 – and it still wasn’t over.

On Wednesday, Feb. 18 – one week after Allen spoke – it was still continuing, although on a more structured schedule: 9 a.m. to noon local time and then 7 p.m. to midnight. The public is invited to participate in the evening service, although campus leaders are urging attendees to check the chapel schedule first. It’s also being streamed online.

“It would feel disobedient to stop, but we also will not push beyond where it would feel disobedient to continue,” campus pastor Jonathan Rivera wrote on Instagram. “What is undeniable to us … is that even if [we] don’t exactly know what is happening, something is happening. Leadership is not leading the room… We don’t want to get in the way… The students are with their hunger, and their passion.”

Rivera described it as “organic” and “authentic.” He’s not ready to call it a revival – such a term can only be used in hindsight, he said – but quickly added, “What we do believe is that SEU is experiencing a unique outpouring of God’s Spirit, that is marked by deep hunger, and the tangible presence of God in a new way.”

Southeastern University is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, although most of its students have non-AG backgrounds.

“You can’t plan this. You can’t manufacture it. And you definitely can’t schedule it,” SEU President Kent Ingle said in an online video.

“What we’re seeing is evidence that God is unleashing faith, surrender and a fresh pursuit of Jesus in this generation,” Ingle added.

It has been likened to the Asbury Revival of 2023, when a scheduled chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, turned into a days-long gathering of worship and prayer that drew thousands of visitors from across the country. That fall, a similar wave of spiritual fervor began spreading across college campuses through Unite US, a movement that launched in September 2023 at Auburn University and is still ongoing.