PICTURE: Jan Abt (iStockphoto.com) “At all these meetings the same kind of thing went on: the same kind of congregations assembled, the same strained, intense emotion was manifest. Aisles were crowded. Pulpit stairs were packed and two-thirds of the congregation were men and at least one-half young men.” - William Stead, journalist

19th August, 2004

TONY TOWNSEND

This year marks the centenary of the start of the Welsh Revival, a movement of God that took place between 1904-06, profoundly impacting the spiritual and social climate in Wales and leading to the conversion of an estimated 100,000 people.

In the years leading up to the revival, the yearning for a spiritual awakening was strong. In New Quay, Cardigan, the hearts of young people were stirred to seek God. Formed into teams by a church minister named Joseph Jenkins, they travelled the local area giving testimony about God.

They were present at a convention at Blaenannerch, about five miles north of Cardigan, in September 1904 when Presbyterian evangelist, Seth Joshua, spoke. Also present was 26-year-old student, Evan Roberts, a man who was to become the catalyst for the Welsh Revival. It was a prayer that Joshua prayed that provided the impetus Roberts' needed to launch the movement.

Born in 1878 in the small community of Loughor in Glamorgan, Roberts left school at 11 years of age and worked initially as a coal miner and then as a blacksmith’s apprentice until his early 20s.

A member of Moriah Methodist Church at Loughor, Roberts had been converted in early adolescence and prior to his encounter with Joshua, he had been praying for revival. In preparation for the future revival he believed was coming, in 1904, when aged in his mid 20s, Roberts entered the Newcastle Emlyn Grammar School to prepare for study at Trefecca Theological College.

Shortly after the meeting with Seth Joshua, however, Roberts was again profoundly impacted by a message - this time by Evan Philips, a minister and the father of the principal of the grammar school, and - and it was then that Roberts received what could be described as an informal “divine commissioning”.

Taking leave from the grammar school, he went back to his home town of Loughor and began holding prayer meetings and challenging young people in particular to be open to God’s Spirit moving on their lives. He boldly declared to his mother that Wales was going to witness the greatest revival it has ever witnessed.

The effect of Robert’s preaching was almost immediate as people felt convicted to seek God’s forgiveness for their wrongdoings and to reconcile their differences. Roberts travelled the Welsh valleys sometimes choosing not to preach but to simply pray.

Of note was the incredible change in the spiritual climate in Wales. Church attendance began to increase and meetings were characterized by spontaneous singing without anybody giving direction.

PICTURE: James Kirby (iStockphoto.com) "There is less drinking, less idleness, less gambling. Men record with almost incredulous amazement how one football player after another has foresworn cards and drink and the gladiatorial games, and is living sober and godly life, putting his energy into the Revival." - William Stead, journalist

Editor and journalist, William Stead describes the scene in 1904: “In Mardy I attended three meetings on Sunday, two-and-a-half hours in the morning, two-and-a-half hours in the afternoon and two hours at night, when I had to leave and catch the train. At all these meetings the same kind of thing went on: the same kind of congregations assembled, the same strained, intense emotion was manifest. Aisles were crowded. Pulpit stairs were packed and two-thirds of the congregation were men and at least one-half young men.”

The revival also saw the dramatic conversion of alcoholics, gamblers and criminals and, in some districts, police found themselves unemployed.

Stead writes: “There is less drinking, less idleness, less gambling. Men record with almost incredulous amazement how one football player after another has foresworn cards and drink and the gladiatorial games, and is living sober and godly life, putting his energy into the Revival.”

Industry was also impacted. Miners commenced their shifts in prayer and tellingly, the pit ponies, accustomed to the foul language of the miners, came close to ceasing work because of the time they needed to adjust to the clean language now employed by the miners.

The revival was not just confined to Wales but was to create a wave of spiritual awakenings through nations including Korea, China, Japan, South Africa and across the continents of Africa and Latin America.
 
Yet not all supported the movement. Critics claim that a lack of directive leadership during meetings gave rise to people responding merely out of emotion and cited a lack of Bible-based teaching for those who were converted.

And despite the enormous impact the revival had on Wales, it took its toll personally on Evan Roberts. During the revival he suffered two nervous breakdowns and, on the advice of a close friend, he went to England to recover and spent his later years in virtual isolation. He was to never formally preach again and passed away in 1951.

For more information, see www.welshrevival.com