The Welsh Revival of 1905
Wales has been called the “land of Revivals.” No less than sixteen remarkable revivals occurred in Wales between 1762 and 1862.[1] Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom on the island of Great Britain. It borders England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the South.
In spite of its great history of revivals throughout the land, the church in Wales was in decline during the last decade of the nineteen century. According to revival historian Dr. J. Edwin Orr, the church suffered from a “loss of power in the pulpits and a worldly spirit in the pews.” Church attendance was low for Sunday services, prayer meetings, and general fellowship among the members. Bible reading and family worship was neglected by much of the church. These conditions greatly concerned many of the leaders of the Welsh churches, and most saw a great need for a spiritual revival through a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit.[2]
F. B. Meyer was a friend of D. L. Moody and one of several of Moody’s American and British preaching associates such as Reuben A. Torrey, J. Wilbur Chapman, and Henry Varley during Moody’s ministry in the latter part of the nineteenth century.[3] Meyer had become the spokesman for the “Keswick” movement in 1887, succeeding Andrew Murray, the leader of the South African revival of 1860. In 1875, the small resort town of Keswick in which the meetings were held became known as the Keswick Convention for the Deepening of the Spiritual life. The movement gained a worldwide influence and was supported in America by men such as Moody and R. A. Torrey, but its ecumenical nature generally was not well received in America due to the schisms between the holiness and liberal wings of the Protestant church.[4]
Meyer had taught many young Welsh ministers who eventually sought a Keswick-style convention in Wales. The convention was held at the beautiful Welsh spa located at Llandrindod Wells where the ministers prayed much for an awakening in Wales. A second convention was held in August 1904 at which Meyer and Dr. A. T. Pierson ministered. A number of these ministers began conducting meetings in support of the message of deepening the spiritual life of the church. Although Seth Joshua participated in these meeting, he was not an advocate of the Keswick teachings but appreciated the Keswick efforts to promote holiness. He considered the Keswick approach as one of many. Fearing the Keswick’s prevailing emphasis on spiritual qualifications would dampen the spiritual side, Joshua began praying that God would send revival to Wales through the efforts of a lowly young man from the mines or perhaps the fields. Not only would God grant Joshua’s prayer, this young man would be called from one of Joshua’s own meetings.[5]
But the seeds of the Welsh revival were planted months before Seth Joshua’s yet unknown young miner or ploughman arrived on the scene. It was at the chapel of at New Quay, Cardiganshire, in February 1904 that marked the lowly beginnings of the Welsh revival which along with other revivals would have a worldwide impact during the remainder of first decade of the twentieth century. Rev. Joseph Jenkins was appointed to the New Quay pulpit in 1892. Over the years of his pastorate, Jenkins became greatly burdened by the spiritual indifference among Christians generally and especially among the young people of his church. He began preaching to the young people about the necessity of obeying the Holy Spirit. In the late winter of early 1904 at a young people’s prayer meeting Rev. Jenkins asked for testimonies of their spiritual experience. The testimonies tended to drift to other topics, but the minister persisted in seeking to keep the young people focused on their spiritual experiences. Florrie Evans, a timid young girl, rose to speak. With a tremor in her voice, she said, “I love Jesus Christ, with all my heart.” The gathered young people were greatly moved and blessed by her sincere declaration. News of the Holy Spirit’s power and blessings that had begun with Flossie Evans’ eight words spoken at the New Quay young people’s prayer meeting soon spread throughout the area and opened the door for revival.[6]
Evan Roberts
By September 1904, the move of the Holy Spirit in New Quay had been sustained for six months. When Seth Joshua arrived he found a wonderful revival spirit prevailing. His meetings lasted far into the night, and on Sunday, September 18th, Joshua said he had “never seen the power of the Holy Spirit so powerfully manifested among the people as at this place just now.” After a week of unparalleled services, he traveled to Newcastle Emlyn to conduct meetings. Several ministry students from the Academy attended and were stirred by the services. Two of the students were Sidney Evans and Evan Roberts, roommates who arrived at the Academy that same month. The two traveled with other students the next night to Seth Joshua’s meeting at Blaenannerch. On Thursday morning Joshua closed the meeting with a prayer in which he cried out in Welsh, “Lord…bend us.” Evan Roberts went to the front, kneeled at the altar, and cried out in agony, “Lord…bend me.” A wave of peace passed over his soul which was followed by a concern for others. Joshua took note of the young man, but other leaders were disturbed by the young man’s intensity. They were concerned that such free expression would lead to a spiritual uproar as opposed to a quiet, Keswick-style meeting.[7]
Evan Roberts was twenty-six at the time of his life-altering encounter with God. He was the product of a devout home centered on Bible reading, family worship, and Sunday school at the Moriah Church in Loughor which was associated with the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist denomination. Roberts was obsessed with revival from his early youth. After his father was injured in the mines, the young Roberts went to work in the mines before he reached his twelfth birthday. After twelve years in the mines he became a blacksmith for a short while, but in 1903 he began preparation for the ministry.[8]
Immediately following his experience at the altar, Roberts knew that an extraordinary work of God was about to occur in his life. He began praying for his associates that would comprise his first ministry team, withdrew his savings for their support, and shared his vision with Sidney Evans, his college roommate and future brother-in-law.[9]
I have a vision of all Wales being lifted up to heaven. We are going to see the mightiest revival that Wales has ever known—and the Holy Spirit is coming soon, so we must get ready. We must have a little band and go all over the country preaching.[10]
Roberts immediately asked Evans, “Do you believe that God can give us a hundred thousand souls now?” Before launching out with his team, Roberts returned home on October 31st to convince his family and members of his home church in Loughor of his mission. He asked the ministers at the Moriah Church and its daughter church in Gorseinon if he would be allowed to speak. With permission, Roberts conducted a youth meeting on the evening of October 31st, 1904. Seventeen people were in attendance. Roberts shared his vision with the people and encouraged them to declare their Christian faith. Overcoming their initial reserve or shyness, all would give testimony of their faith that evening including three of Roberts’ sisters.[11]
Over the next twelve days, Roberts continued to hold nightly meetings alternating between the Pisgah Chapel near the Roberts’ home, the Libanus Church in Gorseinon, and at Moriah, the mother church in Loughor. On November 13th he was driven to Sunday services in Swansea where the results were disappointing as there was open criticism of the girl singers that accompanied Roberts’ ministry. But on Monday the 14th Roberts spoke at the Ebenezer Chapel in Aberdare which was crowded by a thousand people eager to hear the young preacher. The next day at the early morning prayer meeting, Roberts made a prophetic announcement that a great awakening was soon to occur in Wales.[12] It had been less than forty-five days since the unknown ministry student had knelt at an altar and cried out to God, “Lord…bend me!”
And so it was that the young ex-miner would become God’s chief instrument in initiating a great awakening in Wales and which would spread to many other parts of the world. Roberts began to receive invitations to speak from churches throughout Wales. Within six weeks, one hundred thousand Welsh men, women, and children came into the Kingdom of God (out of a population of one million at the time). Within eight months, one hundred fifty thousand had applied for church membership. Dr. Orr estimated that as many as a quarter of a million people could have been converted during the revival. Unfortunately, many Christians and churches in Wales rejected the message of revival and as a result many villages and towns were entirely bypassed as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit flowed across the land.[13]
The magnitude of the conversions had a profound effect on almost all daily life in Wales. A brief account of the remarkable transformation of the spiritual climate in Wales is found in Mathew Backholer’s Revival Fires and Awakenings.
The daily shifts at the coal mines soon started with a word of prayer…Mine shafts resonated with the hymns of the converted…pit ponies which were used to being commanded by the unconverted foul mouths refused to work as they could not recognize the sanctified tongues!…magistrates were given white gloves (a symbol of purity) as there were so few cases to hear—God’s spirit brought conviction of sin, brought about changed lives, sobriety and restraint. Aberdare on Christmas Eve was almost entirely free from drunkenness and on Christmas Day there were no prisoners at all in the cells…Whole football and rugby teams were converted and praying became more important than playing! Games were either cancelled or put off until a more convenient time, whilst other teams disbanded. Theatre attendance dropped, dance halls were deserted and pubs (drinking establishments) were emptied and closed; the proprietors were furious! Talented actors and actresses failed to draw the crowds…[14]
The magnitude of the worldwide impact of the news of the Welsh awakening is almost incomprehensible. The following list of revivals that were birthed almost simultaneously with the Welsh revival is not meant to be exhaustive: New Zealand, Scotland, North Africa, South Africa, Algeria, South Seas, India (six different revivals across the large nation), North America (including the Azusa Street Revival of 1906-1909), Mexico City, Sweden, France, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, China (Shanghai and Canton – 1906), and Korea (1907-1910).[15] Some of the revivals were sporadic such as in France while others blanketed entire nations such as North America and India.
Revival stirrings in America at the beginning of the twentieth century
Between 1900 and 1904, there were reports by the press of scattered revivals in many areas of America. However, these were generally considered to be local evangelistic meetings and were not comparable to the spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit such as occurred in 1858. As early as 1900, an increasing number of conversions were occurring as a result of various Methodist evangelistic campaigns conducted throughout the United States. There was a growing optimism and expectancy that a twentieth century awakening would occur. The Baptists both in the north and south were united in prayer for revival. Although the Presbyterians were “theoretically” opposed to revival in favor steady growth of their churches, that attitude changed in 1901. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) under the leadership of J. Wilbur Chapman organized an Evangelistic Commission which fielded fifty-six evangelists in 1902 and twelve hundred pastors united in prayer in 1903.[16]
At the turn of the century, the central and western valleys of Pennsylvania had become home to many thousands of immigrants from Wales. The majority of the immigrants had become members of Welsh-speaking or bi-lingual churches. It was only natural that many of the immigrants were in frequent contact with family and friends that were left behind in Wales. One of those was Rev. J. D. Roberts whose heart had been touched by the first-hand accounts of revival received by him and many other Welsh Pennsylvanians. As a result of the various reports, a sudden awakening arose in Rev. Roberts’ Wilkes-Barre church in which 123 converts were reported in one month. The revival spread to churches in many other towns and districts in Pennsylvania including New Castle and Pittsburgh.[17]
In 1905, news of the revival in Wales spread through all religious journals and newspapers of various denominations. Even the Anglo-Catholic Episcopalians in the United States had friendly opinions of the Welsh Revival brought about “by the strong breath of God’s Holy Spirit.” The Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists were all talking about the revival in Wales and praying for revival in America. Revival prayer meetings were held by the thousands throughout the nation.[18] By the end of 1905, the revival had spread throughout the United States—from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and all points in between. Churches in Canada were similarly affected from coast to coast.[19]
But the Revival of 1905 in America was more than a revival of the church but an awakening of the larger culture to the faith and principles of the Christian life. One report from Portland, Oregon, described the deep incursions of “religious enthusiasm” (revival) not only into the church and hearts of individual Christians but into the very fabric of the everyday life of the culture.
…for three hours a day, business was practically suspended, and from the crowds in the great department stores to the humblest clerk, from bank presidents to bootblacks, all abandoned money making for soul saving.[20]
Such was the spirit of cooperation in the revival that two hundred major stores agreed in writing to close between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to allow customers and employees to attend prayer meetings. Similar actions were taken by Seattle merchants.[21]
Characteristics of the worldwide awakenings and revivals of 1900-1910
The awakening of 1900-1910 spread across the globe and was the most evangelical of all of its predecessors.
In his comprehensive The Flaming Tongue – The Impact of Twentieth Century Revivals, Orr wrote of the origins and characteristics of the worldwide awakening that occurred in the first decade of the twentieth century.
The early twentieth century Evangelical Awakening was a worldwide movement. It did not begin with the phenomenal Welsh Revival of 1904-1905. Rather its sources were in the springs of little prayer meetings which seemed to arise spontaneously all over the world, combining into the streams of expectation which became a river of blessing in which the Welsh Revival became the greatest cataract.
The first manifestations of phenomenal revival occurred simultaneously among Boer prisoners of war in places ten thousand miles apart, as far away as Bermuda and Ceylon. The work was marked by extraordinary praying, by faithful preaching, conviction of sin, confession and repentance with lasting conversions and hundreds of enlistments for missionary service.[22]
The awakenings of 1900-1910 were thoroughly interdenominational and included many instances of various congregations sharing in the revival including Anglican, Baptist, Brethren, Congregational, Disciple, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches, but there was no evidence of revival involvement among Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox churches.[23]
There existed similarities between the Revivals of 1857-1858 and 1900-1910: their beginnings were found in prayer meetings, repentance within the church followed by an awakening of those outside the faith, evidence of great conviction of sin, and public confession of sin. The 1900-1910 revival exhibited many similarities with the evangelical revivals recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: awakenings began in prayer meetings, reports of a mighty rushing wind; many outpourings of the Holy Spirit: infilling of believers with the Holy Spirit; some glossolalic utterances (unknown tongue); prophesying of young men and women; reports of unusual dreams and visions; the hearts of many hearers were pierced upon hearing the message of Christ preached; under great conviction of sin, many cried out for help which was followed by repentance; fellowship and prayer were often spontaneous and guided by the Spirit; a great sense of the presence of God in meetings; and very little hostility or opposition from those outside the revival movement.[24]
Impact of the worldwide awakening of the early twentieth century
The nineteenth century was a period of massive evangelical renewal and advance in which the light of the Gospel of Christ spread across the globe.[25] The best method of gauging the impact of a revival of Christianity was to determine the number of people “revived” for Christianity and the extent to which a culture is awakened. A review of the history of the Christian church and revivals of Christianity through the centuries inevitably brings one to the conclusion that each successive evangelical awakening is more thoroughly New Testament in its emphasis and outworking than the preceding awakening. As evidence, one may point to the chain of revivals and awakenings in which each successively was more evangelical (i.e., a true reflection of New Testament Christianity): John Wycliffe’s Lollards of the thirteenth century, the Reformers of the sixteenth century, the Puritans of the seventeenth century, the Revivalists of the eighteenth century, the Revivalists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the Pentecostals of the twentieth century. Applying the same criteria as to the number of people influenced and the worldwide extent of the revivals, the awakening of 1900-1910 far exceeded the Revival of 1857-1858.[26]
Recall that in an earlier chapter it was noted that the Revival of 1857-1858 caused the nation and individual men and women, in both the North and South, to be spiritually prepared for the coming Civil War (1861-1865) in which the nation would exorcize the demon of slavery and recover its national unity. In much the same manner but on a far larger scale, the unprecedented worldwide awakening of the church and spread of Christianity that occurred in the first decade of the twentieth century prepared most of mankind for the cataclysmic global conflict that would engulf much of the world with the advent of World War I (1914-1918). The Revival of 1857-1858 was a harvest before the devastation of the American nation in the Civil War. The awakenings of 1900-1910 were a harvest before the devastation of Christendom during and after World War I.[27]
The worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not only for the revival of the church and awakening of nations, but the awakenings also served as reservoirs of strength, mercy, grace, and truth to be drawn on in times of extreme wickedness, devastation, and chaos during and after World War I. May we not compare the times of revival and great spiritual blessing of the church before the War and its aftermath with Joseph’s Egyptian grain bins filled to capacity during the seven good years which sustained Joseph’s brethren and the Egyptians during the lean years of drought and desolation?
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Mathew Backholer, Revival Fires and Awakenings-Thirty Six Visitations of the Holy Spirit, (ByFaith Media, 2009, 2012), p. 74.
[2] J. Edwin Orr, The Flaming Tongue – The Impact of 20th Century Revivals, (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1973), p. 1.
[3] Edwin Orr, The Light of the Nations – Evangelical Renewal and Advance in the Nineteenth Century, (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1965), p. 194.
[4] Ibid., pp. 204-207
[5] Orr, The Flaming Tongue, pp. 1-2.
[6] Ibid., pp. 2-3.
[7] Ibid., pp. 3-5.
[8] Ibid., pp. 4-5.
[9] Ibid., p. 6.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid., p. 8.
[12] Ibid., pp. 8-11.
[13] Backholer, Revival Fires and Awakenings, pp. 75-76.
[14] Ibid., pp. 76-77.
[15] Ibid., p. 78.
[16] Orr, The Flaming Tongue, pp. 66-67.
[17] Ibid., p. 70.
[18] Ibid., p. 68-69.
[19] Ibid., p. 80.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Ibid., p. 188.
[23] Ibid., pp. 195-196.
[24] Ibid., pp. 198-200.
[25] Orr, The Light of the Nations, p. 275.
[26] Orr, The Flaming Tongue, pp. 186-187.
[27] Ibid., p. 287.
