The marathon religious service at Asbury University that has drawn in thousands of participants nationwide is being forced to downscale. According to school officials, the rapid influx of visitors whom they appreciate and welcome, is causing logistical problems for the surrounding area and need to move from campus.

According to Religion News Service, Asbury University President Kevin Brown said, “We had authorities that had to redirect traffic away from Wilmore. Our town’s institutions and infrastructure are just not a place to absorb the influx of the blessed guests that we have had.” The evangelical service in Wilmore, Kentucky, has been celebrating nonstop for two weeks in what many participants call a “revival.”

The movement started after students refused to leave after a chapel service, and the services have grown to pack the school’s chapel with worshipers from all over the country. The university designated a day for the “concluding public worship service” of the event, stating that services would move off campus from that point onward.

Asbury will stream parts of services being held for young adults in an on-campus auditorium. In a statement, Brown said, “We are tremendously thankful for the men and women who have worked so hard and diligently to create space for this special move of God. Hosting such a significant moment comes with a cost, and the goodwill and humility of our community have been inspiring.”

The statement concluded, “Finally, we cannot fully express the profound gratitude we have for stewarding this outpouring in the life of our school and beyond. Ultimately, we pray that our efforts in these days point to our Savior.”

Greg Gordon, who has followed the Asbury revival since its inception, told Christian Headlines that a law enforcement official in Wilmore had estimated the crowd size at 20,000. Gordon has been speaking to pastors on the ground and was driving cross-country to Wilmore from California. He is the founder of SermonIndex.net and has been one of the go-to sources on social media for information about the revival.

Timothy Tennent, the president of the university’s sister institution Asbury Theological Seminary, called it the “largest crowds yet in Wilmore.” Wilmore’s population is 6,000. God wants to revive the church, Gordon said. “God is calling back his people to intimacy and first love with Him,” Gordon told Christian Headlines. “I believe that this is the opportunity for people who are away from the Lord that they [could] be more intimate with Jesus, if they would just cry out [and] experience that personal revival, His presence.”

Gordon believes “two things” sparked the revival. First, he said, “America, Canada and the Western” have “spurned God” and have not fought evil with “prayer and with the love of God.” Second, Gordon said, God wants to revive His people. “Prayer should be something you want to do – not that you have to,” Gordon said. “Worship is something you get to do. It just changes everything when you have that first love with Jesus.” The revival, Gordon added, is “not about personalities, not about celebrities, famous bands or preachers, or a college.” Gordon said, “It’s about Jesus.”