I wrote recently how “Crazy Things Happen at a Student CPx.” Healings, salvations, baptisms, and new simple churches are often a result of these training experiences. These are now happening during the first SCPx for African American Universities, happening this week in Atlanta, GA.

SCPx students head to Morehouse College.

I went to Atlanta to assist three amazing student leaders, Jasmine Tate, Meghan Strickland, and Courtney Werner as they led this historic Student CPx for African American students. Within a small radius are Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and a diversity of other universities. Student leaders from Montgomery, Alabama and Nashville joined us to take the movement back to their campuses.

After the U.S. Civil War, numerous Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) were founded to prepare newly freed African Americans for leadership. Today, there are 105 HBCU’s in the U.S.  Whenever African Americans lead in arts, entertainment, politics, business and other spheres, they influence the world in powerful ways. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s happened largely through the rapid communication and coordinated action among these HBCU’s. The spread of the gospel on HBCU’s is vital to the future of America and the world.

Today, a new kind of movement is rising again among these students– a movement of spiritual freedom.

At SCPx, students are learning to make disciples and start simple churches on their campus.

• Students pray and worship daily.
• We send students out into the campuses and city to practice evangelism and simple church planting principles.
• We gather afterward to share stories and learn from each other.
• Students live a 24/7 lifestyle of being the church together, working out relational conflicts and learning to love each other.
• By the end of SCPx, students develop a strategic simple church planting plan for the upcoming school year.
• Students will be followed up with throughout the year for coaching, encouragement, and visits to their campus as they need.

A group of students learn simple church planting at Morehouse College

The principles of SCPx are simple, reproducible, and they change lives wherever God sends us:

Students can make disciples.
Any student can start a simple church on their campus.
We reach campuses to change nations.

The first morning as we gathered to pray, the Holy Spirit touched us in a remarkable way. I can’t fully explain what happened, but I was overcome with the love of God for this city and HBCU’s. I couldn’t stop crying; not just ordinary tears, but tears that brought me to the floor at times. I feel God’s heart. I sense what He wants to do among African American students.

One of the pastors here at Freedom Atlanta, who we partner with, told us tonight:

“You don’t know what a miracle it is for blacks and whites to be sitting in a house on Parson Street in Atlanta worshiping Jesus together… What many people don’t realize is that the Civil Rights Movement was largely led by college students. Martin Luther King was like a spiritual father who rallied them and gave them permission…Many leaders have begun to speak of a third wave of freedom coming to African Americans. The first was freedom from slavery. The second was Civil Rights freedom. The third wave will be Spiritual Freedom… You people at SCPx carry that — an anointing to bring spiritual freedom. We open the gates of Atlanta to you.”

As I sat at Morehouse College, where Martin Luther King and a wealth of other leaders attended, I was overwhelmed with a burden to see God move on HBCU’s through a new student movement – a movement of spiritual freedom that will reverberate into the urban core, the marketplace, education, and government.

Pray for this Student CPx. Pray for HBCU’s. God has opened a wide door of favor to us in the Southeast U.S., where the student church movement is just beginning to be planted.

“Jesus, adorn your bride, your church, among African Americans with your beauty and glory. May a new generation of African American leaders rise to bring spiritual freedom from the strongholds of injustice, sin, and darkness.  Amen!”

— Erik