Welsh Methodist revival
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The Welsh Methodist revival was an
Beginnings
The revival's immediate beginnings are usually traced[
Many[
The other major leader of the early revival was
Jumpers
Following the Llangeitho revival of 1762 members of the revival were often known as Jumpers on account of their habit of jumping for joy. This nickname particularly stuck after William Pantycelyn wrote Llythyr Martha Philopur at y Parchedig Philo Evangelius eu hathro (Martha Philopur's letter to the Reverend Philo Evangelius her teacher) followed by Atteb Philo-Evangelius i Martha Philopur (Philo-Evangelius's reply to Martha Philopur). These texts attempted to teach and defend the practices of the revival including that of jumping. The nickname juxtaposed them with Quakers (who 'quaked') and Shakers (who 'shook').
A movement
Rowland and Harris had been at work for eighteen months before they met at Defynnog church in 1737. This led to a friendship that lasted, with a ten-year break in fellowship, until Harris's death in 1773.
Methodist leaders met regularly to organise their work and to agree on matters of common interest.
Harris and Williams undertook major preaching journeys, starting in South Wales but later venturing north. As they preached they made converts, whom they then gathered together into organised groups of fellowships (known as seiadau (societies) in Welsh). As more converts were made, more evangelists were also created, and by 1750 there were over 400 such fellowship groups in Wales.[citation needed] These groups were supervised by the leaders and were built into a powerful network within the Church of England.
Rowland concentrated his efforts on Llangeitho which became a centre for the movement. On Communion Sundays thousands of the members of the seiadau would travel there to receive the sacrament.
A Calvinist movement
The Welsh Methodist revival differed from the Methodist revival in England in that its theology was
Welsh Methodists and other denominations
The Methodist revival began within the Church of England in Wales and at the beginning remained as a group within it. But its success meant that Methodists gradually built their own networks, structures, and even meeting houses (or chapels), which led eventually to the secession of 1811 and the formal establishment of the Calvinistic Methodist Presbyterian Church of Wales in 1823.
The Welsh Methodist revival also had an influence on the older
Sources
- Davies, Gwyn (2002), A light in the land: Christianity in Wales, 200–2000, Bridgend: ISBN 1-85049-181-X.
- James, E. Wyn, 'Lewis Evan, Richard Tibbott and the Methodist Revival', Cylchgrawn Hanes (Journal of the Historical Society of the Presbyterian Church of Wales), 44 (2020), pp. 29ISSN 0141-5255.
See also
- 1904–1905 Welsh Revival
- Religion in the United Kingdom
- Bretonrevival.
External links
- "1904 History", Welsh Revival.
- "Welsh Revival", Religion in Wales (historical timeline), UK: BBC.