Evangelism and Diakonia in Context

Rose Dowsett

• Publisher: Regnum
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781911372035
• eBook ISBN: 9781912343461
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

In a world of uncertainty, this volume advocates for a humble confidence in the reconciling work of the Community-of-Love. Yet further, by bringing together perspectives and experiences of Christians from across the theological and cultural spectrum, it models the reconciling power of the whole gospel and invites readers to share the good news. Ruth Padilla DeBorst, Coordinator Networking Team International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation

PART FIVE

CASE STUDIES FROM FIVE CONTINENTS ON EVANGELISM AND DIAKONIA IN CONTEXT

REVIVAL, EVANGELISM AND DIAKONIA: A STUDY OF REVIVAL IN BRITAIN, 1857-1863

Ian Randall

Introduction

In his book, Victorian Religious Revivals, David Bebbington describes how revivals in the nineteenth century can be seen as ‘outbursts of fresh vigour’, in which congregations or larger Christian bodies were stirred ‘to renewed faith and activism’, with many conversions taking place.¹ The longer history of the Christian church is a story that includes recurrent episodes of revival and resurgence.² This case study looks at what has often been called the ‘1859’ Revival, although I see it as a period of fresh vigour from 1857 to about 1863. The Revival was international.³ Kathryn Long has written an excellent account of the events in North America.⁴ Here I will look at the impact in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. There have been varied assessments of the Revival of this period. I follow the approach of Janice Holmes, who has argued, after detailed research, for the significance of what took place in the late 1850s and beyond.⁵ This particular experience of spiritual renewal and revival was located within the evangelical constituency, which coheres with the view that the evangelical movement is at heart a spiritual tradition.⁶

Prayer and Awakening

The beginnings of the Revival in the north of Ireland have been associated with four young Irishmen who in September 1857 began to hold weekly prayer meetings in County Antrim. Samuel Moore, a local Presbyterian minister, identified the four as crucial to the subsequent spiritual movement. There were descriptions of ‘the power of prayer’ beginning to be ‘known, and felt, and seen’, with several dramatic conversions taking place.⁷ Holmes speaks about ‘semi-mythologised’ beginnings, especially in relation to the role of James McQuilkin, a handloom linen weaver.⁸ William Gibson, another author, also noted how a Presbyterian Sunday school prayer meeting contributed.⁹ William Arthur, a leading British Methodist who was originally from the area, described how the ‘small farmers, weavers and linen manufacturers’ were deeply affected, and that ‘faith in prayer, mighty prayer, seemed the first and deepest lesson of the Revival’.¹⁰ Because Ireland had many links with North America through the thousands who had emigrated, the news about the rapidly growing prayer movement across the Atlantic came to Ireland.¹¹ Gibson was sent by Irish Presbyterians to find out more about these happenings. As a professor of Christian ethics, his positive assessment carried considerable weight.¹²

In Scotland, a period of concerted prayer began in Aberdeen in September 1858, with one of the factors being news from America. One of the most widely-read books about the American revival was The Power of Prayer (1858) by Samuel Irenaeus Prime, a Presbyterian minister who became editor of the New York Observer.¹³ A group of young men began to meet for prayer in Aberdeen and soon united prayer meetings were being held daily in the city’s County Buildings, with 600 attending. An itinerant evangelist, Reginald Radcliffe (a lawyer), was invited by William Martin, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen, to conduct evangelistic meetings. One Church of Scotland minister reported that ‘the blessing descended in large measure’.¹⁴ By the middle of the following year large prayer meetings were being held in Glasgow. A Free Church of Scotland minister in the Scottish border country, Barbour Johnstone, wrote about visiting the Wynd Church (later St George’s Tron) in Glasgow. He saw many ‘deeply affected’.¹⁵ Horatius Bonar, the hymn-writer and one of the best-known Free Church ministers of the period, commended these reports.¹⁶

It appears that there was a heightened desire for prayer in parts of Wales in the summer of 1859. Developments were investigated and reported on by Thomas Phillips in The Welsh Revival: Its Origin and Development (1860).¹⁷ One of those encouraging this movement was Humphrey Jones, who had emigrated from Wales to the United States and – having witnessed revival over there – was anxious on returning to Wales to see a movement of the Holy Spirit in his homeland. Another was David Morgan, a Calvinistic Methodist minister. At first David Morgan was uncertain – even sceptical – about Jones, not least because of his associations with America, but what the latter said to him had such a powerful effect that he could not sleep for several nights, and he prayed for guidance about what to do. Eventually he concluded, without much enthusiasm, ‘We cannot do much harm by keeping prayer meetings, and trying to rouse the country.’ Morgan, replying, expressed his conviction: ‘If you try, it will not be long before God will be with you.’ This proved to be the case.¹⁸

The beginning of the prayer revival in England can probably be traced to united prayer meetings in London, initially in the Cosby Hall, in August 1859. Soon attendance at this meeting reached 100 and similar meetings began in the much larger Exeter Hall, an evangelical centre in London. By the end of the year, twenty-four prayer meetings were being held daily and sixty were taking place weekly in the London area. The Earl of Shaftesbury (Lord Shaftesbury), the outstanding evangelical social reformer of the period, encouraged this prayer movement. C.H. Spurgeon, too, who had emerged as the most popular British Baptist minister of the time and had at this point been preaching for five years to very large crowds, found the new impetus significant. In December 1859 he wrote: ‘The times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord have at last dawned upon our land. Everywhere there are signs of aroused activity and increased earnestness. A spirit of Prayer is visiting our churches… The first breath of the rushing mighty wind is already discerned, while on rising evangelists the tongues of fire have evidently descended.’¹⁹ In similar vein, Samuel Garratt, a leading Anglican evangelical clergyman in London, spoke of a ‘great outpouring of the Spirit’ among London’s population.²⁰ In varied situations across Britain, prayer was central.

Working Together

Churches of different denominations working together was a prominent feature of the Revival.²¹ Although in Ireland the Presbyterian churches gave the lead, other denominations participated. United meetings of Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Independents and Baptists were held. In September 1859 a prayer meeting for the whole of Ireland was arranged in Armagh. Weir wrote in The Ulster Awakening: ‘On Wednesday, 16th September, the second day after I left Armagh, a multitudinous meeting was held there by the friends of the movement in that and in the adjoining counties.’ Special trains were put on. 20,000 people were present and the event was written up by The Times.²² Verner White, minister of a Presbyterian Church in Liverpool, came back from visiting Ireland, and in the summer of 1859 a meeting was held at the instigation of the Liverpool YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association), so that White could give an account of the Revival.²³ Interdenominational evangelistic meetings began, for example in the Adelphi Theatre in Liverpool. To give one example of the impact on the churches, of the 11,000 Wesleyan Methodist members on the roll in the Liverpool Circuit in the spring of 1860, 1,800 were new or probationary members.²⁴

All the main denominations in Scotland were involved. The spirit of unity was such that after large interdenominational meetings in 1860 in Perthshire – at one meeting 4,000 people were present – those responsible for the meetings stated rather dramatically that they had ‘buried sectarianism… and saw no Christian weep over its grave’.²⁵ Wales, in the same period, was similar, with a strong emphasis on ‘union’ prayer meetings. One Welsh minister, writing to Thomas Phillips, said, ‘Clergymen, preachers, and people, pray together, and God is among us. Where there was much bigotry, bickering, and unpleasant feeling between parties before, and had continued for years, there is nothing now but co-operation, love and zeal.’ An old and experienced Welsh Christian, at one of the united meetings, prayed in vivid terms: ‘O Lord, we thank thee that the straw partition, which has so long separated us, is now on fire!’²⁶

By early 1860, in a ‘Revival Sermon’ he preached, Spurgeon spoke about the way in which – as he saw it – a new spiritual vision was evident across the churches. United prayer was linked with action. He spoke of the ‘life’ and ‘vigour’ being experienced. ‘Everybody seems to have a mission,’ he pronounced, ‘and everybody is doing it. There may be a great many sluggards, but they do not come across my path now. I used to be always kicking at them, and always being kicked for doing so. But now there is nothing to kick at – everyone is at work – Church of England, Independents, Methodists and Baptists.’²⁷ Handley Moule, later Bishop of Durham, spoke of 1859 as that ‘year of the right hand of the Most High’. He continued: ‘Ulster was profoundly and lastingly moved and blessed. Here and there in England it was the same.’ Moule spoke specifically of the parish work of his father and mother. ‘Up and down the village the pastor, the pastoress and their faithful helpers found “the anxious”.’²⁸ Among those affected was Thomas Hardy, later the famous novelist, but Hardy’s commitment to evangelical Christianity was not maintained after his move to London in 1862.²⁹

Across London, the Earl of Shaftesbury was taking initiatives to link Anglicans and Nonconformists in evangelism. As a result of these efforts, in 1860 the Britannia, Garrick and Sadler’s Wells Theatres were used for the first time for Sunday evening services. They attracted huge audiences to hear speakers from different denominations. Soon seven theatres in London were serving as ‘preaching centres’, with a total of 20,000 people attending.³⁰ Shaftesbury was enthusiastic about the young preachers who were associated with Spurgeon and whom he heard speaking in theatres. He noted their colloquial way of addressing people who would not find ordinary services comprehensible.³¹ Shaftesbury also referred to an obs...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Foreword
• Editorial Introduction: Evangelism and Diakonia in Context
• Section One: The Dual Mandate
• Section Two: Ecumenical Perspectives
• Section Three: Diakonia
• Section Four: Evangelism
• Section Five: Case Studies from Five Continents on Evangelism and Diakonia in Context
• CONCLUDING CHAPTER
• Select Bibliography
• List of Editors and Contributors
• Index
• Back Cover