Everything happens within a
context and so it was with Humphrey Jones. Leaving Wales for America a
disappointed man he had already experienced a blessing on his preaching but he
knew little of what it was to be a revival preacher. It was in America that this
experience came to him. Before we can make sense of his time there, however, it
would be beneficial to understand the context he found himself in.
A
changing church
By the time Jones had arrived
in America the church there had been changed significantly and this change is
crucial to our understanding of how Jones became such a powerful revival
preacher. A theological shift had taken place within some church traditions
which brought with it a far greater emphasis on man’s ability and need to reach
out to God and respond to the Good News about Jesus. Previously, a Calvinist
emphasis had dominated but with the advent of the Methodist Camp Meetings in
the early 1800s and then the radical work undertaken by Charles Finney there
was a far greater emphasis on man’s responsibility before God.
This theological shift saw
some practical changes also. In particular, the method of preaching changed
from being doctrinally centred to being an emotional appeal for a response to
God’s call. At the end of the meeting an ‘alter call’ was made where those
responding were invited to sit on the ‘anxious seat’ at the front. There they
would be addressed a second time by the preacher and urged to accept Jesus as
Saviour.
Joining
an American revival movement
These techniques had already
crossed the Atlantic to Wales and had been used during revivals, but Humphrey
Jones – not being a church goer at the time – had little experience of them.
But it was to this exciting and fired-up church scene that he went when he
arrived in America. He joined the American equivalent of his own denomination,
the Episcopal Methodist Church, and soon found himself in the middle of what
can only be described as a revival movement.
In 1855 he was appointed as
a missionary in the Racine district of New York State and for the following
three years he was caught up in a whirlwind of revival – an experience that
would prepare him for his return home.
In the next post I’ll detail
some his work in America.
