1904–1905 Welsh Revival

The Welsh Revival (1904–1905) was the largest full scale Christian Revival of Wales of the 20th century.

The Background

Before the 1904–1905 revival the last revival that Wales saw was in 1859, but prior to that change was already afoot. From 1850 onwards the Christianity of Wales was markedly less Calvinistic in form. A generation of powerful biblical preachers ended, as leaders such as Christmas Evans (1838), John Elias (1841) and Henry Rees (1869) died.

Prior to the 1904–1905 revival two thinkers came to prominence, the political philosopher Karl Marx with his "Communist Manifesto" in 1848 and "Das Capital" in 1867 and the scientist Charles Darwin with his major work the "Origin of Species" in 1859, both of which arguably posed a challenge to the Christianity of Wales. In the face of hardship the poor quarrymen of North Wales wanted hope and so many modified their preaching style to that of social gospel; likewise Christian leaders came to accept the theories of Darwin despite the fact that some perceived them as being in conflict with the teachings of the Bible.

Between 1859 and 1904, there were local revivals: in Cwmafan (1866), Rhondda (1879), Carmarthen and Blaenau Ffestiniog (1887), Dowlais (1890) and Pontnewydd (1892).

Revival begins

There is no clear origin for the movement but several locations can be viewed as major components of the revival.

New Quay and Blaenannerch

A prominent leader of the Revival was the Methodist preacher of New Quay, Joseph Jenkins, who, in 1903, arranged a conference in New Quay under the theme "to deepen our loyalty to Christ". After a meeting in February of 1904, the regular Sunday meetings as well as the newly founded mid-week meetings became lively and Joseph Jenkins’ Church went to other surrounding towns and villages to witness.

In September a conference was held in Blaenannerch. It was reported that 'massive blessing' was upon this conference and the news quickly spread throughout the area and beyond. The South Wales Daily News picked up on the events and reported that "the third great revival was afoot through the nation!"—the other two revivals being the Welsh Methodist revival and the 1859 Methodist Revival.

Ammanford

At the beginning of November 1904 Jenkins was invited as guest preacher at meetings in [http://www.terrynorm.ic24.net/bethany%20chapel.htm/ Bethany] Ammanford, the Church of Nantlais Williams. When it was arranged that Joseph Jenkins was to be guest preacher there was no news of the conversions in New Quay and Blaenannerch, but an extra meeting was hastily arranged on the Sunday afternoon so that Joseph Jenkins could tell about the events in New Quay and Blaenannerch. Williams is recorded to have said that he was worried that there would be no interest in such a meeting and he was skeptical what the turn out would be; when he himself arrived he could only just squeeze into the Chapel to hear Jenkins.

It had been arranged before New Quay and Blaenannerch that Jenkins was to preach on the Monday night before his return to New Quay. The Church was again full with people professing their faith in Jesus; but perhaps the most dramatic turn was when one of the crowd announced "Another meeting like this will be held here tomorrow night...", and so that meeting again was well attended and went on until the early hours of the morning. Despite already having been ordained as a Minister it is worth noting that upon that weekend in November 1904 Williams had a conversion experience, on the Saturday night prior to Jenkins’ arrival.

North Wales

In December 1904 Joseph Jenkins embarked upon a three month period preaching and professing in areas of North Wales. Many meetings were held in Amlwch, Llangefni, Llanerchymedd, Talysarn, Llanllyfni, Llanrwst, Denbigh, Dinorwig, Disgwylfa and conversions occurred amongst students in the University of Wales Bangor. But perhaps the largest conversions were seen in Bethesda, where another leader of the revival J.T Job described the meeting held in Jerusalem Bethesda on the 22 of December 1904 as "a hurricane".

Evan Roberts and Loughor

Evan Roberts was a young man influenced by the stories and experiences that were happening over in New Quay and Blaenannerch. He decided to leave for ministerial training in Newcastle Emlyn and arrived in the Revival in south Ceredigion. The news of the mass conversions in New Quay and Blaenannerch had already spread to Newcastle Emlyn and served as a distraction for a man who had been sent there to study. Seth Joshua, another prominent leader of the Revival came to the area to hold meetings, which Roberts attended eagerly.

After his three months training at Newcastle Emlyn he was to return to Loughor to start his ministry. He claimed to have direct visions from the Holy Spirit; very specific visions such as the number 100,000 representing the souls God intended to use him to save. As the revival unfolded Roberts is said to have depended increasingly upon what he considered the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

Response to Roberts' ministry was initially slow but soon the crowds turned out and the meetings were carried on until the early hours of the morning. After the meeting at Loughor, Roberts assembled a team and went on a tour of the South Wales valleys to spread the revival.

Roberts did not take well the decline of the revival, and the frustration of great expectations of a world wide revival that had arisen in his team, and afterwards fell into depression. He was housed then by a friend and co-authored a book with his friend's wife Jessie Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints, (believed by some to be heretical because of its use of the term "possession" to describe demonic spirit's potential effect on believers) from which he dissociated himself after he recovered from depression and the book was severely criticised.

Role of newspapers

A feature of this revival that was not seen in any other revival prior to 1904 was the role of the media. The Western Mail and the South Wales Daily News, Wales’ daily newspapers spread news of conversions and generated an air of excitement about the Revival that helped to fuel it further. The Western Mail in particular gave extensive coverage to Roberts' meetings in Loughor. The Western Mail articles were reprinted in book form in 2004 by Quinta Press.

Reflections on the Revival

It is believed that at least 100,000 people made Christian committments during the movement during the revival, but despite this it did not put a stop to the gradual decline of Christianity in Wales, only holding it back slightly. It has been argued by some Christian historians that the 1904–1905 revival lacked the depth of previous revivals in terms of nurturing the newly converted Christians in biblical teaching.

The Centenary of the Revival

A Diary of Revival

2004, The Centenary of the 1904 revival, saw Kevin Adams of Llanelli launch a Video/DVD "A Diary of Revival" documentary on the 1904 revival. Educated through the medium of Welsh and English, Kevin is a fluent Welsh speaker and writer. He was theologically trained at Bangor University where he gained a BD in Theology and then went on to research the 1904 revival and 20th century evangelism in Wales. The DVD is available form the website of [http://www.1904revival.com/ 1904revival.com]

"Amazing Grace" musical

In 2005 a musical was made about the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. [cite web
url=http://www.amazinggracethemusical.com
title=Amazing Grace: musical
accessdate=2008-07-03] The music and lyrics are written by Mal Pope and the book is by Frank Vickery. Its first tour began at the Grand Theatre, Swansea, Wales and was directed by Michael Bogdanov with the Wales Theatre Company and included an appearance from Peter Karrie.

References

Books

* "War on The Saints", Jessie Penn-Lewis & Evan Roberts Diggory Press, ISBN 190536301X; The Full Text, Unabridged Edition Thomas E. Lowe, Ltd., ISBN 0913926043
* "The Awakening in Wales & Some of the Hidden Springs" (republished as "Fuel for Revival"), Diggory Press, ISBN 184685542X
* "I Saw The Welsh Revival" David Matthews Pioneer Books, ISBN 0962690821
* "The World Aflame", Rick Joyner, Whitaker House, 1995, ISBN 0883683733

Sources

*Evans, Eifion: "Diwygiad 04-05" : 2002
*Gibbard, Noel: "Nefol Dan – Agweddau ar ddiwygiad 1904-1905" : 2004
*Davies, Gwyn: "Golau Gwlad – Cristnogaeth yng Nghymru 200-2000" : 2002
*"Awstin" and other special correspondents of the Western Mail: "The Religious Revival in Wales" 2004
*J Vyrnwy Morgan: "The Welsh Religious Revival 1904-05: A Restrospect and Critique" : 2004

External links

* [http://www.dustandashes.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=8&id=36&Itemid=53/ The Complete Text of The Story of the Welsh Revival by Eyewitnesses, including G Campbell Morgan, E W Moore & Others]
* [http://www.welshrevival.com/lang-en/1904history.htm Welsh Revival - History]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/religion/sites/timeline/pages/religion_in_wales_13.shtml Welsh Revival - BBC - History]
* [http://welshrevival.org/ The Welsh Revival Library]
* [http://www.walesawakening.org/ The Modern Day Welsh Revival]
* [http://www.1904revival.com/ A Diary of Revival resources, books and film]