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Camp Fire
Mark Galli | posted 8/08/2008 12:33PM
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Camp Fire
By Mark Galli, former editor of CHRISTIAN HISTORY
Two
hundred years ago this week, on July 1, 1800, the earliest recorded Methodist
camp meeting in America was held in Logan County, Kentucky, near Gaspar River.
No one had expected the annual "Presbyterian Communion" to turn into a revival,
and the widespread spiritual renewal that followed the event was even more surprising.
During the six years preceding
1800, the Methodist Church declined in national membership from 67,643 to 61,351
(heirs of organizational genius John Wesley, the Methodists always kept excellent
records). In the 1790s the population of frontier Kentucky tripled, but the
already meager Methodist membership decreased. Churches and pastors did not
merely wring their hands; they clasped them in prayer. James Smith, after traveling
through Kentucky, wrote, "I trust he [God] will yet bring good out of this evil,
and that the glory of scriptural religion, obscure for the present, will shine
forth hereafter with redoubled luster."
Religion began to "shine
forth" in Kentucky when James McGready arrived in Logan County in 1798 to pastor
three small churches: the Red River, Gaspar River, and Muddy River congregations.
He brought with him from North Carolina a well-deserved reputation for fiery
preaching. Barton Stone, pastor of the Cane Ridge Church (and leader of the
famous Cane Ridge Revival in August 1800), said of McGready after hearing him
preach, "My mind was chained by him, and followed him closely in his rounds
of heaven, earth, and hell with feelings indescribable."
McGready's preaching so
stirred his congregations that when the Red River church sponsored its annual
Communion in June 1800, the spiritual climate was charged. Local ministers were
invited to participate, as were Presbyterian William McGee and his Methodist
brother John, whose preaching had been exciting churches in Tennessee.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
passed quietly—as these Presbyterian Communions were wont to go. On Monday,
though, as one local minister preached, a woman who had long sought assurance
for her salvation began shouting and singing. The preacher concluded his sermon,
and all the ministers left the church—except the McGee brothers. William sat
on the floor near the pulpit weeping. Soon the congregation was weeping, seeking
full security for salvation. Then John rose to preach; a witness said he exhorted
people to let "the Lord God omnipotent reign in their hearts, and to submit
to him."
People began to cry and
shout. Then the woman who had first started singing let out a wail of anguish.
John, seemingly entranced, made his way to comfort her. Someone (probably his
brother) reminded him this was a Presbyterian church; the congregation would
not condone emotionalism! Later John recalled, "I turned to go back and was
near falling; the power of God was strong upon me. I turned again and, losing
sight of the fear of man, I went through the house shouting and exhorting with
all possible ecstasy and energy and the floor was soon covered with the slain"
(people falling in ecstasy).
McGready and the other
ministers, convinced this was the work of God, immediately laid plans for another
sacramental service to be held the next month. Hundreds flocked to Gaspar River;
fortunately most came prepared to camp. (Large outdoor meetings had a long history,
but this was probably the first meeting of its kind—though the term "camp meeting"
would not be coined for another two years.) One minister remarked, "The news
of the strange operations which had transpired at the previous meeting had run
throughout the country in every direction, carrying a high degree of excitement
to the minds of almost every character."
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