That Asbury University’s chapel has become a “hot spot of sacramentality” {James K.A. Smith] would not surprise the founders of Christian higher education in America. The integration of revival and moral philosophy in the college chapel helped lead to what Mark. A. Noll calls “the great age of Christian higher education.”
Revival and Moral Philosophy: A Founding Vision for American Higher Education
While Asbury University’s current revival appears a modern anomaly, it is very much in keeping with the history of higher education in America.