Revivalist (person)

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A revivalist or evangelist is a person who holds or presides over religious revivals. Revival services are an integral part of the Conservative Anabaptist, Free Will Baptist and Methodist traditions, among other branches of Christianity. [1] Revivals are defined as "a period of heightened spiritual activity in a section of the church, brought about by a renewing and empowering work of the Holy Spirit, bringing a new sense of the presence of God, especially in his holiness, resulting in a deeper awareness of sin in the lives of believers, followed by new joy as sin is confessed and forgiven." [2] Common jargon for these meetings or series of meetings can include "having a revival meeting" or "to hold a revival." The meetings and gatherings can last for days, several weeks, or for many years on rare occasions.

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In the Conservative Anabaptist tradition, revivals are aimed at preaching the New Birth and calling backsliders to repentance. Methodist revivalists preach two works of grace, the (1) New Birth and (2) entire sanctification, along with encouraging backsliders to return to God. [3]

A revivalist can also include someone that either presides over, or actively pursues, a religious re-awakening or restoration to spiritual ideas, orthodoxy, religious or personal experiences, and/or communal pursuit of divine occurrences. A secondary definition for revivalist is a person who revives customs, institutions, or ideas. [4]

History

Revivalists have been prominent in all major evolutions of the Christian church. In the First Great Awakening, Congregationalist minister Jonathan Edwards was credited with being the initial catalyst for this movement that would greatly impact American culture from 1734 to 1750. [5] Methodist preacher George Whitefield also did much to see The Great Awakening's furtherance and influence on the American public.

The Second Great Awakening began at the end of the 18th century, and continued until the mid-nineteenth century. [6] It was characterized by several prominent revivalists with differing denominational backgrounds and message focuses. Charles Finney is often cited as the most prominent preacher of the Second Great Awakening. [7] He was known for both genders being present in his meetings, his extemporaneous preaching style, the use of the "nervous seat" (where those considering salvation could contemplate and pray), and the "altar call" (invitation at the end of a church service for an attendee to come forward for prayer). Finney held that revivals were not necessarily sovereign acts of God, but could be initiated by believers following Biblical precedents and prescriptions. Finney exclaimed, "A revival is not a miracle, not dependent on a miracle, in any sense. It is purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means." [2] Presbyterian minister Lyman Beecher, another prominent Second Great Awakening preacher, [8] was largely known for encouraging and expanding the temperance movement, which advocated for teetotalism.

Revival, 1900–1950s

At the beginning of the 20th century, several revivals began across the United States, Europe, and eventually affected many parts of the world. In the early 1900s, Charles Parham was leading a school called Bethel in Topeka, Kansas. One of his students had an experience with glossolalia. [9] He and his students became prominent proponents of the experience being indicative of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. William Seymour, [10] a student of Charles Parham, was instrumental in the Azusa Street Revival [11] in Los Angeles, California. The revival meetings held at Azusa Street were reported to include remarkable miracles, healings, and divine experiences.

The Azusa Street revival spread overseas, and particularly impacted Wales through Evan Roberts. [12] The outpouring was termed the Welsh Revival and lasted from 1904 through 1905. [13] Around the same time, John G. Lake was reported to have held several healing crusades in Africa, and began a healing ministry in Spokane, Washington. [14] Throughout the international community, several other revivals were reported to have occurred during the first decade of the 20th century.

In the mid-20th century, several other revivalists became prominent in American culture. William Branham was the spearhead for several healing ministers emerging during the 1930s, 1940s, and early 1950s. [15] Branham supported faith healing, and had testified to seeing visions before praying for the healing of his meeting attendees. Jack Coe was another healing evangelist reported to have numerous healings during his meetings, and a passionate preaching style. [16] Oral Roberts [17] and Billy Graham [18] emerged during the late 1940s, and spread the revival influence and meetings further. Oral Roberts was considered a healing minister, whereas Billy Graham's crusades were characterized by large crowds and an emphasis on salvation.

Contemporary revivalists

Conservative Anabaptist churches hold revivals lasting once a week each year. In the Conservative Anabaptist tradition (Beachy Amish, Conservative Mennonite, and Dunkard Brethren), revivals are aimed at preaching the New Birth and calling backsliders to repentance. [19]

It is common for Methodist churches aligned with the holiness movement to hold a revival lasting approximately one week annually. Revivalists (evangelists) are called for this purpose by the local church. The Book of Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection provides the following definition: "An evangelist is an elder or conference preacher devoted to traveling and preaching the gospel without any specific pastoral charge, authorized by the Connection to promote revivals and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ abroad in the land." [20] Along with this, Methodist churches are usually associated with a camp meeting at which revivalists preach; these are held usually in the summertime. [21] Methodist revivalists preach two works of grace, the (1) New Birth and (2) entire sanctification, along with encouraging backsliders to return to God. [3]

Several prominent "revivalist" organizations and ministries have gained prominence in the last several decades. Reinhard Bonnke was a German evangelist who had a ministry impacting millions of African citizens at "crusades". He is recognized for his impassioned messages, his focus on salvation through Christ, and the redeeming and healing blood of Jesus Christ. [22]

Heidi Baker and Rolland Baker have also gained international recognition for an exponentially expanding network of churches throughout the world. [23] Their organization, Iris Ministries, has upwards of 10,000 connected churches partnered for revival. Iris Ministries is located in Mozambique, Africa.

John and Carol Arnott are ministers from Toronto, Canada. [24] They, along with Randy Clark, were the foremost ministers in a charismatic move of God referred to as the Toronto Blessing. The Toronto blessing was divisive in the fact that holy laughter, being intoxicated in the Holy Spirit, and other charismatic manifestations were highly visible. The Toronto Blessing was also reported to have a primary focus on emotional and spiritual healing of father "wounds" or issues.

Bill Johnson is also a figurehead in the most recent wave of revival-focused activity within Christendom. [25] Bill Johnson is the senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California. He is an author, and his church has been highly influential in creating a theology that recognizes "God is good" and "God's healing is for today."

Notable revivalists

See also

Related Research Articles

Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.

The Third Great Awakening refers to a historical period proposed by William G. McLoughlin that was marked by religious activism in American history and spans the late 1850s to the early 20th century. It influenced pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong element of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial belief that the Second Coming of Christ would occur after mankind had reformed the entire Earth. It was affiliated with the Social Gospel movement, which applied Christianity to social issues and gained its force from the awakening, as did the worldwide missionary movement. New groupings emerged, such as the Holiness movement and Nazarene and Pentecostal movements, and also Jehovah's Witnesses, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Thelema, and Christian Science. The era saw the adoption of a number of moral causes, such as the abolition of slavery and prohibition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Grandison Finney</span> American minister and writer (1792–1875)

Charles Grandison Finney was a controversial American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States. He has been called the "Father of Old Revivalism". Finney rejected much of traditional Reformed theology.

The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent influenced other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emphasis on the doctrine of a second work of grace, which is called entire sanctification or Christian perfection. The word Holiness refers specifically to the belief in entire sanctification as a definite, second work of grace, in which original sin is cleansed, the heart is made perfect in love, and the believer is empowered to serve God. Churches aligned with the holiness movement additionally teach that the Christian life should be free of sin. For the Holiness movement, "the term 'perfection' signifies completeness of Christian character; its freedom from all sin, and possession of all the graces of the Spirit, complete in kind." A number of Christian denominations, parachurch organizations, and movements emphasize those Holiness beliefs as central doctrine.

The Azusa Street Revival was a historic series of revival meetings that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher. The revival began on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp meeting</span> Christian gathering which originated in 19th-century America

The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. Revivals and camp meetings continued to be held by various denominations, and in some areas of the mid-Atlantic, led to the development of seasonal cottages for meetings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revival meeting</span> Series of Christian religious services

A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held to inspire active members of a church body to gain new converts and to call sinners to repent. Those who lead revival services are known as revivalists. Nineteenth-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon said, "Many blessings may come to the unconverted in consequence of a revival among Christians, but the revival itself has to do only with those who already possess spiritual life." These meetings are usually conducted by churches or missionary organizations throughout the world. Notable historic revival meetings were conducted in the United States by evangelist Billy Sunday and in Wales by evangelist Evan Roberts. Revival services occur in local churches, brush arbor revivals, tent revivals, and camp meetings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William J. Seymour</span> African American holiness pentecostal preacher

William Joseph Seymour was a Holiness Pentecostal preacher who initiated the Azusa Street Revival, an influential event in the rise of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, particularly Holiness Pentecostalism. He was the second of eight children born in an African-American family to emancipated slaves and raised Catholic in extreme poverty in Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Fox Parham</span> American preacher and evangelist (1873–1929)

Charles Fox Parham was an American preacher and evangelist. Together with William J. Seymour, Parham was one of the two central figures in the development and initial spread of early Pentecostalism, known as Holiness Pentecostalism. It was Parham who associated glossolalia with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a theological connection crucial to the emergence of Pentecostalism as a distinct movement. Parham was the first preacher to articulate Pentecostalism's distinctive doctrine of evidential tongues, and to expand the movement.

Pilgrim Holiness Church (PHC) or International Apostolic Holiness Church (IAHC) is a Christian denomination associated with the holiness movement that split from the Methodist Episcopal Church through the efforts of Martin Wells Knapp in 1897. It was first organized in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the International Holiness Union and Prayer League (IHU/IAHC). Knapp, founder of the IAHC, ordained and his Worldwide Missions Board sent Charles and Lettie Cowman who had attended God's Bible School to Japan in December 1900. By the International Apostolic Holiness Churches Foreign Missionary Board and the co-board of the Revivalist the Cowmans had been appointed the General Superintendents and the Kilbournes the vice-General Superintendent for Korea, Japan and China December 29, 1905. The organization later became the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1922, the majority of which merged with the Wesleyan Methodists in 1968 to form the Wesleyan Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative holiness movement</span>

The conservative holiness movement is a loosely defined group of theologically conservative Christian denominations with the majority being Methodists whose teachings are rooted in the theology of John Wesley, and a minority being Quakers (Friends) that emphasize the doctrine of George Fox, as well as River Brethren who emerged out of the Radical Pietist revival, and Holiness Restorationists in the tradition of Daniel Sidney Warner. Schisms began to occur in the 19th century and this movement became distinct from parent Holiness bodies in the mid-20th century amid disagreements over modesty in dress, entertainment, and other "old holiness standards". Aligned denominations share a belief in Christian perfection, though they differ on various doctrines, such as the celebration of the sacraments and observance of ordinances, which is related to the denominational tradition of the specific conservative holiness body—Methodist, Quaker, Anabaptist or Restorationist. Many denominations identifying with the conservative holiness movement, though not all, are represented in the Interchurch Holiness Convention; while some denominations have full communion with one another, other bodies choose to be isolationist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Gordon Lindsay</span> American revivalist preacher (1906–1973)

James Gordon Lindsay was a revivalist preacher, author, and founder of Christ for the Nations Institute.

Outward holiness, or external holiness, is a Wesleyan–Arminian doctrine emphasizing holy living, service, modest dress and sober speech. Additionally, outward holiness manifests as "the expression of love through a life characterised by ‘justice, mercy and truth’." It is a testimony of a Christian believer's regeneration, done in obedience to God. The doctrine is prevalent among denominations emerging during the revival movements, including the Methodists, as well as Pentecostals. It is taken from 1 Peter 1:15: "He which hath called you is Holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. F. Bosworth</span> American pastor

Fred Francis Bosworth was an American evangelist, an early religious broadcaster, and a 1920s and Depression-era Pentecostal faith healer who was later a bridge to the mid-20th century healing revival. He was born on a farm near Utica, Nebraska and was raised in a Methodist home. His Methodist experiences also included salvation at the age of 16 or 17, and a spontaneous healing from major lung problems a couple of years later. Bosworth's life after that was one that followed Christian principles, though his church affiliation changed several times over the years. Several years after his healing he attended Alexander Dowie's church in Zion City, Illinois, then joined the Pentecostal movement and attended Pentecostal services. Most of his later ministry was associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance church.

The People's Methodist Church was a Methodist denomination aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. Based in the Southern United States from 1938–1962, it was founded by revivalist Jim H. Green.

Finished Work Pentecostalism is a major branch of Pentecostalism that holds that after conversion, the converted Christian progressively grows in grace. On the other hand, the other branch of Pentecostalism—Holiness Pentecostalism teaches the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification as an instantaneous, definite second work of grace, which is a necessary prerequisite to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Finished Work Pentecostals are generally known to have retained the doctrine of progressive sanctification from their earlier Reformed roots, while Holiness Pentecostals retained their doctrine of entire sanctification from their earlier Wesleyan roots. William Howard Durham is considered to be the founder of Finished Work Pentecostalism.

Christian revivalism is increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a Christian church, congregation or society with a local, national or global effect. This should be distinguished from the use of the term "revival" to refer to an evangelistic meeting or series of meetings. Proponents view revivals as the restoration of the church to a vital and fervent relationship with God after a period of moral decline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabernacle (Methodist)</span> Center of a camp meeting In Methodism

In Methodism, a tabernacle is the center of a camp meeting, where revival services occur. These evangelistic services are aimed at preaching the two works of grace in Methodism: (1) the New Birth and (2) entire sanctification. They additionally call backsliders to repentance. Tabernacles may be constructed in a cruciform-shaped fashion and are most often made of wood. Like the interior of many Methodist churches, in the center of the tabernacle is an altar upon which the Eucharist is consecrated; a pulpit stands near it and is used by preachers to deliver sermons. The area of the tabernacle housing the altar and pulpit is delimited by the mourner's bench, which is used by congregants during altar calls. Surrounding the tabernacle itself are usually several cabins and/or tents, where people stay while attending the camp meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holiness Pentecostalism</span> Branch of Pentecostalism

Holiness Pentecostalism is the original branch of Pentecostalism, which is characterized by its teaching of three works of grace: [1] the New Birth, [2] entire sanctification, and [3] Spirit baptism evidenced by speaking in tongues. The word Holiness refers specifically to the belief in entire sanctification as an instantaneous, definite second work of grace, in which original sin is cleansed and the believer is made holy, with the heart being made perfect in love.

References

  1. ↑ "History of Royse City Methodist Church". Royse City Methodist Church. Retrieved 17 July 2024. The history of Royse City Methodist dates back to September 1, 1884, when a revival meeting was held by the Miller brothers, one of which was a Baptist.
  2. 1 2 Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic
  3. 1 2 Atkin, Pippa (2003). Flexi-RE Evaluation. Nelson Thornes. p. 8. ISBN   9780748763542. Their sermons done, revivalists like Caughey and Marsden, following time-honoured Methodist procedure, would urge people to the communion rail - called also the mourners' bench, a kind of Protestant confessional - in public acceptance of Christ.
  4. ↑ "the definition of revivalist". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  5. ↑ The Philadelphia Period of Church History, Daniel Hopkinson, Knoxville Evangelical Examiner
  6. ↑ "Second Great Awakening - Ohio History Central". Ohiohistorycentral.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  7. ↑ Evangelicalism, Revivalism, and the Second Great Awakening, Donald Scott, National Humanities Center
  8. ↑ The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists, Barry Hankin, Greenwood Publishing Group
  9. ↑ Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts, C. Peter Wagner, Google eBook
  10. ↑ Pentecostalism: William Seymour, Vinson Synan, Christianitytodaylibrary.com
  11. ↑ "the definition of revival". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "BBC - South West Wales - Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  13. ↑ Enjoying God: Experiencing Intimacy with the Heavenly Father, S.J. Hill, Relevant Media Group
  14. ↑ John G. Lake: The Complete Collection of His Life Teachings, Roberts Liardon, Book
  15. ↑ Supernatural: The Life of William Branham, Owen Jorgensen, (compilation of books)
  16. ↑ God’s Generals, Roberts Liardon, p. 352
  17. ↑ Oral Roberts, Fiery Preacher, Dies at 91. Keith Schneider, NYTimes, Dec. 15, 2009
  18. ↑ Billy Graham, His Life and Influence. David Aikman, Google eBook
  19. ↑ Taylor, Dean. "Anabaptist History: Revival". Charity Christian Fellowship. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  20. ↑ The Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference). Salem: Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection. 2014. p. 92.
  21. ↑ "History". The Crossing Free Methodist Church. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  22. ↑ "Christ for all Nations". Cfan.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  23. ↑ Heidi Baker: Intimacy for Miracles, Christy Biswell, The 700 Club
  24. ↑ "Catch The Fire". Catchthefire.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  25. ↑ Charismatica, Bill Johnson and Bethel Church: A Revival Culture, June 23, 2007
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