Spiritual Awakening in New York City?
20 years ago, Eric Metaxas knew practically every born again believer in Manhattan. “It was like a spiritual ghost town,” the cultural commentator, thought leader and author recalled. Yet, over the recent decades—particularly this last one—New York has seen a surge in evangelicalism. Some cultural experts believe the Big Apple to be on the brink of another ‘Great Awakening.’ Gregory Thornbury, president of The King’s College —the only free-standing Christian institution of higher learning in New York City—compares this rise in Christianity to the the great Wall Street revival of 1857. “I would say there is a very special moment of spiritual renaissance happening in New York City right now,” he said. The Roots of the Renaissance. While it may seem to onlookers that the spiritual renaissance in New York City has just started, it has roots that reach several decades deep. In 1969, shortly before the Cymbalas came to lead The Brooklyn Tabernacle, B.J. and Sheila Weber sensed a need in