2023/02/24

A Quaker Experience at the Asbury Revival - Friends Journal

A Quaker Experience at the Asbury Revival - Friends Journal

A Quaker Experience at the Asbury Revival
February 22, 2023

By Karla Jay


Photos courtesy of the author


Editor’s Note: 

On February 8, a regularly scheduled chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, spontaneously kept going and turned into a nonstop continuing revival lasting two weeks, with services winding down as of Tuesday, February 21. It caught the attention of many American Christians as news spread through TikTok and other social media. The school has had a handful of revivals over the last 100-plus years, with the one in 1970 being particularly influential for both the Jesus Movement and Methodism.

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Last week, on February 16, I decided to go to the Asbury revival and experience for myself what everyone was excited about. I will admit I went in part because I am skeptical toward these kinds of events and of church leaders who abuse the word “revival.”

I decided to go with a group of friends who also wanted to experience what was happening. When we arrived at Asbury University, we got in line, and quickly one of the ushers approached us and asked if we needed prayer; we said, “Yes.” He asked if we wanted to pray for anything in particular, and we said, “That we may feel His Presence.” He prayed for us. It was a simple prayer; he did not lay his hands over us; he did not ask us if wanted to accept Jesus. He simply prayed for us and asked God to give us what we needed.

I noticed that the school wasn’t taking advantage of this opportunity to promote itself. There were no tents except one for media personnel. Outside the Hughes Auditorium, there were two lines of people patiently waiting to go inside.

When we were able to enter the auditorium, we were asked to go up into the balcony, where there was space available. I noticed the serene, quiet nature of what was happening: you could barely hear the two musicians playing acoustic instruments, and the music was very quiet and peaceful. What you could hear was the crowd of people singing and praying. The worship leaders weren’t suggestive and didn’t have an agenda or program: they were not directing the crowd to close their eyes, to lift up their hands, or to kneel. They were simply, softly, and quietly leading the songs. There were no flashing lights; no one was yelling; no one was on the floor (perhaps some knelt); no one was dancing or speaking in tongues. Everything was so soft and gentle. The auditorium was simple and low-key with a traditional organ in the front, along with a sign reading, “Holiness unto the Lord.”

I’ll be completely honest: I did not have an overwhelming experience, which had been my expectation. But I can speak to what I did not feel: I did not feel desperate, anxious, or bored, which in my lifetime of church services, I have felt, especially at services that tried to create a revival with exciting music, dancers, and flashing lights. I felt peaceful at that moment; we were there for an hour and a half, and it felt as if it had only been 15 minutes.

I don’t think anyone can explain what was happening there. After all, we really can’t explain the Holy Spirit. And, as the president of Asbury said, it might be too soon to call this a revival; this seems more like an awakening. If this is in fact a revival, I believe it is only part the first part. As soon as I got home, I got my Bible out and wanted to see what comes next after an outpouring of the Holy Spirit; I opened it to the second chapter of Acts. I noticed that the people repented of their sins, a community was formed in which they shared everything together, and they sold their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. They were honest, and people held them in high regard. My prayer is that this is, in fact, the beginning of a revival: that we can repent of our sins—both as individuals and as the Church.

The American Church needs to repent of the original sin of racism, and make reparations to those It hurt. America is hurting: we live under the constant threat of mass shootings; we are constantly witnessing innocent blood being shed on our streets by those who should protect us; families are separated at the border by the U.S. government; the gap between rich and poor is only widening. America is crying out for justice.

I don’t think God is done with the United States, but I do believe He is tired of the American Church calling “evil good and good evil” (Isa. 5:20 NIV). I believe God still wants to use the American Church, but there has to be real and genuine repentance. We have already begun to see that soon Christianity won’t be the major religion. Our pews are empty, and more and more people don’t want to be part of the Church. Why would they want to be part of an institution that has promoted so much of what is wrong with our society?

Young people see the Church as an institution that points Its fingers at people who are not Christian for sins like abortion, but otherwise offers no real solutions. The Church is seen as an institution that is willing to sell Its soul to anyone who promises crumbs of political power. The American Church has no real authority in preaching the gospel when It sits in judgment over the world with no Good News to offer and no real example to follow. The American Church expects people to act as if they were Christians, when people in the Church don’t even act like Christians. How can we point to the sins of the world when we ourselves haven’t been convicted of our own?

Unfortunately, the American Church has become like the people of Israel in the Book of Amos. God complains about what was wrong with their behavior:


I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (5:21–24 NIV)

My prayer is that the Church does not continue with business as usual; that the American Church can have a real and genuine repentance and conversion; that the college students at Asbury University can lead the Church into a new era, so that our society can truly come to know Jesus. And I pray that we can see the work of the Holy Spirit—not just to gather people from all over the world in Kentucky to sing for several days but to transform our lives, so that we can bring healing and love to our society and the world can witness what the gospel that Jesus preached is really about.

I haven’t lost hope for the American Church, and these students at Asbury have given me more hope: if we can humble ourselves, God can still use us, despite our sinful ways.

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Karla Jay

Karla Jay currently works at Friends United Meeting as global ministries coordinator. 
She is a member of Iglesia Amigos in Indianapolis, Ind. Karla was born in Guatemala but soon moved to the United States. 
She is deeply passionate about the mission of the church as a way to make social justice a possibility. She is married to Michael Jay, pastor at Raysville Friends Church in Knightstown, Ind., and lives in Richmond, Ind., with her three black cats.
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[퀘이커] “내면의 빛” (The inner light)이라는 것

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[퀘이커] “내면의 빛” (The inner light)이라는 것
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- 퀘이커 “사상”에서 거의 가장 중요하다고도 말해지는 개념인데, 이걸 “신”(하나님, God)이란 것을 집어넣지 않고 설명(생각)할 수 있을까?

- 그런 질문을 하는 이유는 퀘이커 친우들 중에서 나처럼 무신론자는 아니지만 “신”이란 개념을 쓰지않는 사람들이 있기 때문이다.

- 애들레이드 퀘이커 모임의 도서관에서 빌려온 밑의 책에서는 “God in us”라는 개념을 쓰지만 커피한 두페지를 한참 읽어보면 God이 없어도 될 것도 같다. 물론 있어도 뭐가 God이냐에 따라 의미가 달라진다. 소위 Non-theist god도 있을 수 있다.

- “내면의 빛”이나 “God in us”를 “양심”같은 것이라고 생각하면 간단해지는데, 밑의 아이랜드인 퀘이커 사상가 Martin Lynn은 “양심”보다는 더 복잡한 것이라고 한다.

- “The inner discernment of God represented by the inner light was a capacity shared by all human beings and was ... the gift of God not humankind.”

- 이렇게 말하면 God이 “in us”에 있다는 것 처럼 들리지 않는다. 나만이 아니라 다른 사람의 내면에도 있으니 안이기도 하고 밖이기도 하다. 사람들이 이것으로 서로 통한다는 이야기이다.















All reactions:6Cho-nyon Kim, Mary Song and 4 others


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  • Paul Dongwon Goh
    “태초에 말씀이 계시니라 이 말씀이 하나님과 함께 계셨으니 이 말씀은 곧 하나님이시니라 2 그가 태초에 하나님과 함께 계셨고 3 만물이 그로 말미암아 지은 바 되었으니 지은 것이 하나도 그가 없이는 된 것이 없느니라 4 그 안에 생명이 있었으니 이 생명은 사람들의 빛이라 5 빛이 어둠에 비치되 어둠이 깨닫지 못하더라”(요 1:1-5)
    말씀=Logos=도=하나님=생명=사람들의 빛
    • Sejin Pak
      커멘트 감사합니다. 개인적으로 저에게는 “하나님”이란 말은 의미가 별로없답니다. 그래서 개신교나 천주교 교회에서 하는 말은 저에게 닥아오지 않는답니다. 그래서 아무 말을 하지않는 퀘이커 모임은 저항감이 없답니다. 그런데 거기서 디스커션 구룹에서 말을 해보면 저같은 사람들이 있더군요. 그래서 여기 이 사람들이 함께 나누는 공통점이 뭔가 생각해보는 중입니다. 퀘이커도 몇백년 건에 바뀌어 왔고 별란 가지가 다 있지만 그 흐름 밑에 변하지 않는 것을 생각해 봅니다.
    • Paul Dongwon Goh
      Sejin Pak 공감합니다. 퀘이커의 “내면의 빛”과 동학의 “시천주”도 서로 통하는 게 있는 것 같습니다.다석 유영모 선생은 God을 “아바디”라고 부르셨는데 김흥호 선생님은 아=감탄사 바=밝다는 빛의 구현 디=디딘다는 실천의 삶이라고 풀이하시네요. 토마스 머튼 같은 분은 God은 침묵안에서만 온전히 드러난다고 하시고요. 빛깔과 모양은 다르지만 모두 평화의 꽃을 피운다는데에 공통점에 있지 않을까 생각해봅니다.^^
    • Sejin Pak
      네, 그런 쪽으로공부 중입니다.
    • Peter Paek
      미국에는 유니테리안 쳐치라는 것이 있는데들어보셨는지요
      기독교에 실망한 지식인들이 모이는 곳입니다 대표적으로 Cal tech founder 를 들수있구요 미국 역대 대통령도 한사람 있습니다
      Unitarian Universalism - Wikipedia
      EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
      Unitarian Universalism - Wikipedia
      Unitarian Universalism - Wikipedia
    • Sejin Pak
      Peter Paek 책으로 읽었더니 기존 기독교에 비해 퀘이커와 비슷한데 침묵의 예배는 없고, 목사와 설교는 있더군요.
    • Paul Dongwon Goh
      Sejin Pak 유니테리안은 삼위일체를 믿지 않고 유니버설리스트는 만인 구원론을 믿는데 두 그룹이 합쳐진 일종의 미국에서 탄생한 교단이지요. 노예 해방 운동에 선구적이었고 racism에 적극 반대하는 등 사회 문제에 진보적인 입장을 견지하고 교인 대부분이 대학을 졸업한 지식인들이 많이 있습니다. 하버드 대학 앞에 있는 UU 교회에 몇 번 예배 드린 적이 있는데 다른 개신교 주류 교회와 큰 차이점은 못 느끼겠더군요.
      2
    • Sejin Pak
      Paul Dongwon Goh 믿음이 중요하지 않고 진리를 추구하는 것이 중요하다고 하고, 성경은 그 “시대의 산물”이라고 이해를 하기때문에 개신교라면 아주 리러벌한 파가 아니면 일번적으로는 다를 듯합니다. 예수에 대한 이해가 절대적으로 다를 것 같군요.






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