The first thing most people feel when they attend a camp meeting is that they have passed from busyness to tranquility in just a few small steps. They provide an opportunity for true Sabbath rest. Here are five reasons why I think we still need them today: 1. More than 200 years later, thousands of people continue to make the pilgrimage each summer to camp meetings that have withstood the test of time. And in 1811, he estimated that these spirit-filled gatherings brought together one-third of the total American population. He believed they were a great means of grace. Over time, these gatherings established more permanent structures and began to draw people from all over the surrounding communities.įrancis Asbury once called camp meetings “a battle ax and weapon of war” that broke down walls of wickedness throughout America. They began with very temporary arrangements such as tents, wagons, and brush arbors to worship under. Camp meetings often provided a place for those who lived in unsettled areas to worship and gather as a community for a short period of time-typically during the late summer. At the time, they were a new method for evangelism and revival that sprang up all across the country. The songs we sing were written long before I was born and the sermons last much longer than fifteen to eighteen minutes.Ĭamp meetings are uniquely American institutions that were developed during the early years of the Second Great Awakening. Each summer I do something odd by most American standards: I spend one week with my extended family, we sleep in a crowded cabin with no air conditioner, and we go to worship services three times per day-alongside of hundreds of others-in an open air structure with a sawdust floor.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |