Culture

America Continues Its Spiritual Awakening as Hundreds Baptized in Gatlinburg

Shawn A. Akers 3:21PM April 5, 2023

In the weeks and months since the “Asbury Awakening,” the move of God continues to unfold on secular and Christian college campuses, youth events and at churches across the country.

As CBN News reported, the Holy Spirit continues to spark fires of revival in the hearts and minds of young people.

Winterfest, an annual youth rally near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in February saw hundreds respond to the gospel call to be baptized.

David Schilling, the youth minister for the Hardin Valley Church of Christ, in Knoxville recently told The Christian Chronicle that, at first, the event seemed almost too laid back even for young people.

This year seemed “less grandiose,” he said. The sermons were great, though some sounded like they were intended for an older audience. The worship was powerful. But there wasn’t “that larger-than-life wow factor I’ve come to expect.”

Then, during Sunday morning worship service, minister Jeff Walling asked for those who had decided to follow Christ in baptism to stand up and come forward.

And people responded in droves. According to The Christian Chronicle, the stage was packed with nearly 200 souls.

As it turns out, “What was missing actually made more room for the Holy Spirit to permeate the experience,” Schilling told the outlet.

A second worship service would also see 200 people come forward to be baptized.

Dudley Chancey, Winterfest’s organizer, described to The Christian Chronicle the mass of people coming forward, saying, “This is my 36th year doing Winterfest, and I’ve never seen that.”

‘God is Moving So Much Here’

Just recently, an outpouring among students has also been reported on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University, a small private Christian school in San Diego, California.

Cole Stark, who has several friends attending PLNU, told CBN News in a telephone conversation Monday that students began meeting together on Friday and Sunday nights. Stark said a couple of weeks ago one of the Friday night student gatherings went on for “24 to 26 hours with people just people just worshipping and praying.”