The camp meeting came to define religious revivalism in America. Why? In a word, success. In the same years that British Methodist leaders were choosing to sacrifice numerical growth to preserve church discipline, American Methodism, enabled largely by ever-popular camp meetings, pursued expansion with an unquenchable zeal. Francis Asbury described American camp meetings as “fishing with a large net” and despite warnings from his British counterparts, championed them as the future of Methodism. To his point, by 1811 an estimated 400 to 500 camp meetings were being held each year.
There is no doubt that camp meetings were popular, but did they really lead men to God? I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll keep reading.
Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.
Leave a Reply