'A time of renewal': 1,000 attend revival at Texas university; 80 make decisions for Christ

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Monday, March 16, 2026

Approximately 1,000 students attended a multi-night tent revival last week hosted by a Christian university in Texas, with scores deciding to make decisions for Jesus Christ or pursue ministry.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, which is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, held its 27th annual three-night tent revival last week, a student-led event featuring worship music and preaching.

UMHB Dean of Students Michael Burns told The Christian Post that planning began last year with four main student leaders and the university's Student Life division. By last September, a committee of 20 additional students was meeting weekly to plan the event.

“Revival has long been a part of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and the local Baptist community, and it has taken different shapes throughout history,” Burns said.

Burns recounted a story of a revival that broke out in the campus community on April 20, 1909, during a chapel service, with school leadership opting to cancel classes that day. By the end of the day, 104 women at the then-all-girls college, known as the Baylor Female College, had come to accept Christ.

“A time of renewal seems to be a significant part of our history as Christians, so we do this as a part of that history,” Burns added.

Beginning in 1999, the university replaced its morning chapel revival service with an annual multiday tent gathering.

“This model emphasized extended worship, prayer, small groups, follow-up and student leadership — creating space for several days of focused spiritual engagement.”

Of the approximately 1,000 students who attended last week's gathering, 80 either decided to follow Christ, renewed their faith or answered a call to ministry.

“My hope is that the power of the Gospel truly transformed every student,” Burns said. “We all recognize that the world around us is constantly shaping us, but there is a far greater beauty in surrendering that process to God.”

The featured speaker for this year's revival was Shane Pruitt, an author and the national Next Gen director for the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board.

Pruitt, whose eldest daughter is a student at UMHB and served on the committee that planned the event, told CP that this was his second time preaching at the annual tent revival.

“This is a great school and event,” he said. “So, preaching to and worshiping with college students, plus spending a week with my daughter and watching her serve the Lord, is a win-win.”

The theme of Pruitt's preaching was the potter and the clay, as found in Isaiah 64:8: “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

The messages touched on Christians being shaped by the power of Jesus and urged them to walk in their calling.

“It was incredible,” Pruitt said. “We saw students make professions of faith in Jesus for salvation, many others surrender to a calling to ministry leadership and missions in their lives, and others repent and confess sin and experience victory and freedom in Christ.”

“Each night … the crowd of college students grew. By the last night, there were overflow chairs, with students unable to fit under the large tent.”

Pruitt hopes all of the attendees understood that “we’re all called to be shaped by the Lord,” adding that “we don’t shape and mold Him for our agendas, He shapes and molds us for His mission.”