On January 22, 1995, at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church in Brownwood, Texas, two students from Howard Payne University, a Christian institution, stood up and confessed their sins. As a result of this incident, many others started to confess their own sins before the congregation. On January 26, a similar event took place on the campus of Howard Payne. Word quickly spread to other colleges, and Howard Payne students were soon being invited to other college campuses, which experienced similar revivals. From these schools, more students were invited to still other schools, where there were further revivals (Chronicle Of Higher Education, May 19, 1995, pp. A39-A40).
One of the first two students from Howard Payne to confess his sins was Chris Robeson. As he testified about his own life and the spiritual condition of his classmates, "People just started streaming down the aisles" in order to prayer, confess their sins, and restore seemingly doomed relationships, according to John Avant, pastor of Coggin Avenue Baptist Church. From this time forward, the church began holding three-and-a-half-hour services. Avant said, "This is not something we're trying to manufacture. It's the most wonderful thing we've ever experienced" (National & International Religion Report, vol. 9, no. 7 [20 March 1995], p. 1).
The events at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church were preceded by about seven weeks of increased, widespread prayer. According to Avant, "God is shaking us -- something no person could do. God began by doing some things in isolated ways. He transformed the life of a prominent man in the community who was considering suicide, and couples who were within days of divorce were walking the church aisle to seek God's forgiveness at the altar.... " (press release from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1 March 1995). Avant said that after the events on January 22, the motto among several local high school students had become, "God's going to rock the world, and it's starting in Brownwood," and that "Southern Baptists, Nazarenes, Pentecostals, Independent Baptists, and Presbyterians are getting together just to kneel and pray for revival" (ibid).
At Howard Payne, revival broke out during a January 26 "celebration" service, as students praised God in song and shared their testimonies. Students then started to schedule all-night prayer meetings in dormitories. (Christian Week, 11 April 1995, P. 1 and Ken Camp, "'Activity of God' Produces Renewal in Texas City's Church, Campus, 1 March 1995).
Then, on February 13-15, during five meetings at Howard Payne, Henry Blackaby, a Southern Baptist revival leader ministered at a series of five worship services, attended by guests from up to 200 miles away. On Tuesday, February 14, more than six hundred attended, and students leaders went up to the platform to confess publicly their secret sins. About two hundred stayed afterward to continue praying. One of the students, Andrea Cullins, said, "Once we saw the Spirit move, we didn't want to leave" (ibid). Blackaby's "Experiencing God" discipleship curriculum had been used recently in many of the Brownwood area churches that became affected by the revival.
After Howard Payne, some of the first schools to be affected were Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, Texas, Beeson School of Divinity in Birmingham, Alabama, Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, Ill., The Criswell College in Dallas, Moorehead State University in Moorehead, Ky., Murray State University in Murray, Ky., Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La., Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. In each case, students went forward during long services to repent of pride, lust, bondage to materialism, bitterness, and racism.
On February 23 at Olivet Nazarene, Chaplain Bill Bray play an eight-minute video clip of the 1970 Asbury College revival at a chapel service. Students and faculty then began seven hours of sharing, praying, singing and exhortation to one another. As it continued, word spread off campus and members of the community came in order to experience the move of God, according to Bray. Other colleges affected by the video of the 1970 revival included Moorehead State and Murray State. (National & International Religion Report, vol. 9, no. 8 [3 April 1995], p. 1).
Three Howard Payne students spoke at an evangelism class taught by Roy Fish at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, on February 28 to report on "the activity of God" in Brownwood. Fish reported that what happened that day "had all of the marks of a revival." Other students from Howard Payne later spoke at Houston Baptist University and Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.
On March 1, John Avant spoke to an overflow crowd at Southwestern Baptist's Truett Auditorium about the events at Brownwood, resulting in seven hours of confession and prayer by students, faculty, and administrators. Students said that there was "an outpouring of healing, purging and cleansing among students, faculty, staff and administrators" ("Confession-Filled Chapel Service on March 1 Marks Spiritual Awakening at Southwestern," Press Release, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1 March 1995). Avant said the he witnessed deep, gut-level and spontaneous confessions of sins. "I saw a lot of brokenness and some genuine healing," he said. "I was amazed by the comradery among the students. Someone would share and immediately five or six people would stand around them and pray. One of the most moving experiences was when a white man admitted racism and two or three black guys almost carried him off the stage hugging him" (Bob Murdaugh, "Southwestern Revival Spreads into Surrounding Community," 7 March 1995). Southwestern student Bobby Miller was surprised at the wide range of sins confessed by his fellow seminarians. "It's scary because most of them are prominent leaders of churches. Their confessions made me realize how much more I've got to have my act together" (ibid). Avant said that Southwestern professors such as Roy Fish and Malcolm McDow first gave him a love for revival while he was a student on campus. The meetings at Southwestern continued for several weeks with "extended chapel services lasting all day long, with students and faculty confessing their sins publicly and praying for forgiveness and cleansing from the Lord. There is a strong Presence of the Holy Spirit in the meetings, which are not being led by any one person" (Bill Benninghoff to Richard Riss, 24 March 1995).
According to Bob Murdaugh, various ministers of churches in Fort Worth reported that their congregations were experiencing or close to experiencing great movements of God similar to the one which took place during the March 1 chapel service at Southwestern. For example, "One supernatural event was an hour-long youth meeting at Southwayside Baptist Church on the evening of March 1 that turned into a three-hour time of confession, according to youth worker and Southwestern student Bobby Miller" (ibid). This took place after some Southwestern students gave testimonies of how God touched them in the seminary chapel.
Avant and Robeson later spoke at Beeson Baptist Theological Seminary on March 7 at a three-hour service during which dozens of people went forward to pray, confess pride and lust, and seek reconciliation in personal relationships. Beeson's dean, Timothy George, said that this was something that they had been "praying and yearning for" Southwestern's president, Ken Hemphill, described the events as "a genuine moving of God and the beginning of authentic spiritual revival" (ibid).
At Wheaton College, some students from Howard Payne University, James Hahn and Brandi Maguire, gave their testimonies at a weekly meeting of the World Christian Fellowship at Pierce Chapel on March 19 that lasted from 7:30 pm to 6 am the following day, when the custodial staff asked the remaining 400 people (of a total of 900) to leave so that the building could be cleaned. During that meeting, after each student spoke, friends gathered around to embrace and pray for him or her. Five large garbage bags were filled with bottles of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, pornography, and secular music. Subsequent meetings were moved to College Church at Wheaton to facilitate the larger crowds (1,350 to 1,500 according to chaplain Kellough, but closer to 1800 according to John Knapp, a professor of English at SUNY-Oswego and an alumnus of Wheaton who attended the Thursday meeting).
Steve Snediker, wrote on March 25, "This thing has been almost entirely student led -- there were lines and lines of people engaged in confession and restitution. Loads of pornography, alcohol, cigarettes, ungodly CDs and tapes were being brought to the meetings as part of the confession. And people were coming forward to receive salvation in Christ.... It has been affecting more than just the students on campus. Young people from area churches have been attending. Because the meetings had officially been ended, at least one group of young people continued to meet at their own church last night (Friday) for prayer."
Richard Leonard wrote, "The revival began on Sunday evening after some special speakers (from another college, we believe) had addressed the student body. One young man was so moved that he went forward to confess his sins. (He is something of a campus leader.) He left the chapel to pray with some other students, and when he returned, people were lined up all the way to the back of the auditorium waiting to confess their sins. This went on far into the night until early Thursday morning when the last person got to the microphone. Thursday night the administration scheduled a praise service to thank God for moving on the campus. ... There has been racial and gender reconciliation and all across the campus there is a great spirit of quiet joy.... The report is that about four hundred students have made a commitment to missions or other Christian service because of their gratitude for what the Lord has done for them" (Richard and Janice Leonard to Richard M. Riss, 24 March 1995).
On March 23, Joel A. Dylhoff wrote to Teresa Seputis, "we have been having meetings all this week starting in the evening and running until the next morning. The one tonight ran from 9:30 until 2:30 in the morning." Another student wrote, "What would happen was that after a period of singing, people would line up to confess publicly, and as soon as they were done, they would be mobbed by fifteen to twenty people who would gather around them and pray for them. There was a lot of crying as people unloaded sins that they had carried with them for a long time.... God is definitely at work and the number of people who attend continues to grow each night as the word spreads by mouth. We have had people from the community there, faculty, and students from Northwestern, DePaul, North Park, Loyola, and several others."
David MacAdam of New Life Community Church in Concord, Mass., wrote (25 March 1995), "I pastor a cell church in Concord, MA. While we were meeting in a home Tuesday night (March 21), a woman in our group receive a phone call from her son, a senior at Wheaton. He reported that he has never experienced anything like what was going on there. His classmates, who could have cared less what they watched on television or how they reacted in terms of behavior, were crying out to God, shedding tears. People were lining up to confess their sins in the chapel. There is a sense of the awesome and holy presence of God.... The passion for God born of this move of the Spirit is obvious."
Joel A. Dylhoff wrote to Jennifer Baier on 24 March, "Tonight we emphasized thanksgiving and praise since everyone finished confessing late Wednesday night. The place was absolutely packed! We had an open mike again tonight for people to get up and talk about what they had discovered during the past week. Two people were saved and when they said this, the place went crazy! We also had a call tonight for people to go into the missions field and between 200 and 400 went forward (my judgement is not good, so I couldn't tell you the exact number)! Then we sang some praise and worship songs and the place absolutely EXPLODED! People were shouting and jumping around because they couldn't contain themselves. Afterward people were running around hugging and laughing with each other. I was completely floored! The Holy Spirit was flexing his muscles and Satan fled in a big way!"
A detailed account of the revival at Wheaton College has been written by Lyle W. Dorsett, in the fourth chapter of Accounts Of A Campus Revival: Wheaton College 1995, edited by Timothy Beougher and Lyle Dorsett (Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1995), pp. 75-92.
At The Criswell College, 150 students prayed and repented for four hours after hearing testimony from some Howard Payne students. Then, Doug Minton, pastor of First Baptist Church of Corinth, Texas, reported that his church experienced revival for weeks after a visit from Howard Payne students. At an evangelism conference for the Illinois Baptist State Convention, more than 500 people stayed for four hours to pray and repent after John Avant described these events. During the next week, There were more than six similar incidents reported by those who had been at this conference.
By April 17, the National and International Religion Report (17 April 1995), vol. 9, no. 9, p. 1, reported that thousands more students, as well as some faculty and administration members, had "participated in public confession, restitution, and reconciliation" in colleges throughout the U.S., including Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, Illinois Baptist College in Galesburg, Ill., Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., Taylor University in Upland, Ind., Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn., Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn., and Cornerstone College (formerly Grand Rapids Baptist College) in Grand Rapids, Mich. Meetings that had been scheduled in advance, such as the National Student Leadership Conference at Taylor University, and Beacon '95, a New England student conference, both of which were held April 7-9, 1995, served as catalysts to spread the revival still further. Mike Shelton, a student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, wrote on April 10, "Some students from Wheaton came to Gordon College this past Friday to speak about what's been going on there as part of Beacon '95, an annual conference of New England college students hosted by Gordon. After a period of praise and worship followed by an excellent message on Matthew 7 by John Fisher, the Wheaton students were invited to share. Several student leaders cam forward to confess their own pride in praying for revival on campus for other students and recounted how they had been humbled to see the need for revival in their own lives. After they finished, a steady stream of Gordon students and, later, visiting students came forward to confess sins or share what God had been touching their hearts. I an everyone with me were deeply touched and met privately with one another afterward to confess some deep sins to one another and rededicate our lives to the Lord. Classes have been canceled this Tuesday at Gordon so that the entire campus can meet together.... I'm seeing a widespread hunger for God and willingness to take up the cross that I've never seen before."
The revival at Taylor University was prompted by some students from Wheaton and Asbury who went to Taylor to share testimonies about revivals on those campuses. According to one Taylor student, "word spread like wildfire throughout the campus," and an evening service was held at 8:00 pm on April 9, about five hours after the previous meeting had ended. "I went there, expecting little, and wanting nothing. I stayed until 1:00 am; it went until 4:00 am. I have never felt so filled with the Holy Spirit, nor have I [before] been able to see my fellow students through the eyes of God [as I have now].... I absorbed this love and radiance of God for 5 hours, and it felt like 15 minutes. God initiated the giving up of addictions, attitudes, and practices. It was real, it was not forced. Never will I forget this weekend, and how God has broken me, and the people around me." (Colleen Kendrick to Richard Riss, 10 April 1995).
By May 1, revival had come to Iowa State University, Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Co., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Indiana, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., Judson College in Elgin, Ill., George Fox College in Newberg, Oregon, Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon, and Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Co. (National and International Religion Report [1 May 1995], vol. 9, no. 10, pp. 2-3). At Iowa State on April 10, about three hundred members of several Christian organizations on campus waited for several hours in order to go to the microphone to confess sin, repent and pray after hearing from four Wheaton students about what had happened on their campus. The meeting lasted from 8:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning. On April 13, at Southern Baptist, John Avant spoke at a chapel service, and when the 1,000 students were dismissed, hundreds of them, along with some faculty and administration members, went forward to repent of sins, including bitterness (ibid).
A detailed account of the spread of the college revivals to Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn., Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky., Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill., Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., Cornerstone College in Grand Rapids, Mich., Taylor University in Upland, In., Judson College in Elgin, Illinois, Hope College in Holland, Mich., Iowa State University, George Fox College in Newberg, Ore., Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Ore., Trinity Christian High School in Elmhurst, Ill., Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Ill., Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., Columbia University in New York, N.Y., the University of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point, Yale University in New Haven, Ct., Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill., a Baptist church in the Chicago area, and Greenville College in Greenville, Ill., has been written by Matt Yarrington in the seventh chapter of Accounts Of A Campus Revival: Wheaton College 1995, edited by Timothy Beougher and Lyle Dorsett (Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1995), pp. 139-170.