6 August
1801 A.D. Yes, suh…Frontiersmen, Backwoods Kentucky
Revivalists & Hillbillies Get to 'A-Hootin’ and 'A-Hollerin.’ Strange People
in Cane Ridge, KY
Lord, make it like Cane
Ridge." This was the prayer of revivalists across America. Cane Ridge had
become the most famous frontier revival.
Revival has often emerged after
an intense time of prayer and confession. Cane Ridge was no exception.
Recognizing that many people on the Western frontier were indifferent to faith
or actively opposed to it, pastors and Christians began to set aside time for prayer that revival might come. Convinced
that iniquity impedes revival, many churches tried to clean up their own ranks
by removing from fellowship those who had drifted into overt sin.
Revival began in 1800 in
Kentucky. Under the exhortations of a fiery preacher named James McGready in
Logan County, a woman who for a long time had been seeking assurance of
salvation suddenly broke into songs and shouts of joy. People began to weep and
sought a similar assurance. News of their new found hope spread like wildfire
through Kentucky, and people in nearby regions began to attend the services,
thirsting to partake of the Lord's salvation. Several small revivals spread out
from that center. But the "main attraction" was still to come.
In those days, Christians used
to gather for special communion services in which three or more days of
services would be capped by the sharing of the Lord's Supper. So charged was
the atmosphere in Kentucky that everyone expected great things when the
Presbyterian minister Barton W. Stone scheduled a Communion during the first
week of August over two hundred years ago. Instead of the usual hundreds,
thousands of people thronged toward Cane Ridge, hungering for a taste of God.
Cane Ridge (a small town a day's ride from Lexington in those times of
primitive transportation) was inundated with humanity. Many came prepared to
camp out, hence the name "Camp Meeting" for such services.
Those who arrived by Friday
night may have been disappointed. Nothing visible happened although some spent
the entire night in prayer. But on Saturday evening a powerful enthusiasm swept
the crowd. Men, women and children shrieked and fainted. Preachers shouted to
the crowd and urged repentance. Some of the penitents became hysterical.
Lightheadedness was common. Individuals began to jerk. Scoffers stood by and
mocked.
Sunday morning began calmly
enough with communion. But soon, under the preaching and hymns of a Methodist
minister, the crowds grew emotional. Many fell to their knees, crying for
forgiveness. People counseled one another on spiritual matters. They sang,
shouted, danced, groaned or wept uncontrollably. Some fell into deep comas.
Instead of breaking up on Sunday, services continued through the night and into
the following week, lasting until this day Thursday August
6, 1801, with as many as 25,000 attending. Thousands confessed the Lord.
A year later the excited talk in the area was still about religion.
Bibliography:
1. "Camp Meetings and Circuit Riders. Untamed faith on America's Early
Frontier." Christian History Magazine (XIV No. 1).
2. Eerdman's Handbook to Christianity in America. Editor Mark Noll. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1983.
3. McLoughlin, William G. Revivals, Awakenings and Reform.
Chicago: University of Chicago, 1978.
4. Walker, Ken. "Christians Honor 200th Anniversary of Cane Ridge
Revival in Kentucky." Charisma (Nov. 2001) 24 - 28.
5. Various internet articles.
Last updated April,
2007.
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