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Birthing of the American Camp Meeting and the Cane Ridge Revival

Pentecost to the Present – Book Two: Reformations and Awakenings, Jeff Oliver: “When McGready announced a similar meeting at his Gasper River Church in July, the response was overwhelming. Some came from as far away as a hundred miles, bringing their tents with them. The crowds grew so large they had to clear some underbrush near the church, build a pulpit, and set up log seats outdoors. The American camp meeting was born. Services lasted well into the night. When McGee preached that Sunday night, the Spirit again fell, and many who were seeking God were slain followed by cries and shouts of joy that seemed to drown out the preaching. In 1801, Barton W. Stone (1772-1844), another Presbyterian pastor, who attended the Red River meetings, decided to use McGready’s principles to start a series of meetings near his church in Cane Ridge, Kentucky. Crowd estimates were reported between 15,000 and 20,000. One minister who was present reported 3,000 slain in the Spirit at once with others breaking into loud laughter and still others running, shouting, barking like dogs, and making other strange sounds. One eyewitness reported, ‘The noise was like the roar of Niagara. The vast sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm. Some of the people were singing, others praying, some crying for mercy in the most precious accents, while others shouted vociferously. A strange supernatural power seemed to pervade the entire mass of mind there collected…At one time I saw at least five hundred, swept down in a moment as if a battery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them, and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens.’

Birthing of the American Camp Meeting and the Cane Ridge Revival

Pentecost to the Present: Book Two – Reformations and Awakenings, Jeff Oliver: “In 1796, James McGready (1763-1817), a Presbyterian pastor of three small churches in Kentucky, led his congregations to sign a covenant to pray every Saturday and Sunday morning and to devote the third Saturday of each month to prayer and fasting for revival. Three years later, McGready invited some other denominational ministers to join him at their annual Communion gathering at the Red River Church when the power of God came down. The following summer, they returned on the weekend of June 21-23, 1800, when the Presence of the Spirit became so intense the congregation was reduced to tears. On the third and final day of meetings, the Spirit again lingered. John McGee, one of the Methodist ministers started weeping and others soon followed. McGee then stood up and exhorted the crowd. Several women began shouting, and one in particular shouted above the others. McGee left the pulpit to go to her, but several warned him that the Presbyterians liked order. McGee described what happened as he headed toward the pulpit: ‘I turned to go back and was near falling; the Power of God was so 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 by the slain.’