Revive Europe is stepping back from large continental gatherings and launching a nine-month leadership program as it enters what new director Sam Couper calls "a different vessel" for an unchanged vision.
Couper took over from Sarah Breuel, who stepped down in May 2025 with full board support. The pan-European student evangelism movement, founded in 2019, has since identified three priorities for the season ahead: cultivating grassroots relationships, forming emerging leaders and hosting smaller gatherings built around friendship.
"We believe God has been inviting us to pursue the same vision through a different vessel," Couper said. "Our heart to see Jesus bring revival among the student generation hasn't changed, but the way we carry and multiply that heart has."
The first shift is away from large-scale events. Revive Europe will not hold its biannual New Year gathering in its previous format this year, investing instead in smaller relational spaces where emerging leaders can be connected and prepared. The move includes continued support for "Revive Our Hearts" retreats, hosted in partnership with student communities across the continent.
"I was really impacted by a leadership parable highlighting the example of the aspen tree — seemingly unassuming, yet deeply interconnected and life-giving," Couper said. "We believe God is calling Revive Europe into a season of providing healthy ground cover that supports what Jesus is doing across the continent."
The second priority is the Ascend Cohorts, a nine-month leadership formation program for emerging leaders. Grounded in Psalm 24's call to ascend the mountain of the Lord with "clean hands and a pure heart," the program reflects the ministry's conviction that "revival is always God's initiative, yet our role is to posture ourselves for it." It begins in September at reviveeurope.org/cohorts.
Luke Greenwood, a board member and international mission director of Steiger International, a global youth movement that partners with Revive Europe, welcomed the new direction.
"As Revive enters this new season, I'm excited for Sam and the team as they continue to develop this vision, especially through their commitment to investing in the Ascend Cohorts, fostering friendship and a deep pursuit of the heart of God for Europe and this generation," Greenwood said. "We look forward to continuing to partner with and walk alongside them as a missionary movement with a passion to reach this generation for Jesus."
The third conviction centers on friendship as the pace of revival. Two gatherings are planned within the Ascend Cohorts. A mid-journey retreat will be held Jan. 11, 2027, in Munich in partnership with Maranatha Church München, coinciding with the church's first city-wide Revival Night of the new year. A wider gathering is planned for spring 2027 in Budapest in partnership with Saturday5, a discipleship movement serving local churches, to equip leaders from across Europe as what the ministry calls "revival-ready vessels."
