May 30, 1968 Vol. 145 No. 22 REVIEW AND HERALDeview • GENERAL CHURCH P PER OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS COMMEMORATING 100 YEARS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CAMP MEETI GS The article on pages 2 and 3 tells how camp meetings began and something of what they have accomplished. e 1961 REVIEW AND HERALD RUSSELL HARLAN, ARTIST . Hoping to break away from secular traps Workshops for and cages? Thousands have found camp meetings to be— Spiritual Revival By J. R. SPANGLER Editor, The Ministry First of Two Parts that in certain places some of these freshing. Those who attended sensed camp-meeting memory exciters are the supremacy of heavenly things over ABBATH milk tickets! Book fading away. A camp-meeting transi- the earthly. sales! Canvas and sawdust! The tion is taking place, from big tents to The church today is in no position S big tent! Folding chairs and permanent auditoriums, from family to bypass these commanding benefits. cots! Wide-pine-board floors! Prayer tents to cabins, from sawdust to ce- Who among us would dare say that the tent! Mission pageants! Altar calls! ment, from cots to foam-rubber beds. objectives and goals of the camp meet- Prophetic sermons! Add to these a host Yet, the aims and objectives, benefits ing are no longer valid? The business of other related memory stimulants and blessings, are still preserved and cares and social burdens, which are and you create an Adventist camp available in our present-day camp- breaking the backs of so many of us, meeting. meeting program. need to be laid aside, not just for a A member who has this section of vacation but for a spiritual revival. We his_ memory-file vacant, whether by Nearly 80 Years Without a Miss need to break away from our secular choice or by unavoidable circum- A great-uncle of mine was practi- traps and cages to seek the freedom stance, has lost much. The tragedy is cally a permanent fixture at the Ohio of spirit that can come through a Conference camp meetings. His usual camp-meeting experience. position was on the front row just to Where Did It All Start? the left of the platform. The only rea- son he didn't attend more meetings The most ancient counterpart of during the day was that there were no our modern-day camp meeting dates more meetings to attend! back to the Feast of Tabernacles in It was no rarity for the preacher to Old Testament days. (Discussion on look down at my uncle and boom out, this point will be reserved until next "Brother Francis, I've preached at this week.) camp meeting a number of times dur- The forerunner of the American ing the years, and I have never failed camp meeting dates back to the Great to see you sitting in that same spot. Revival of 1800, decades before the How long have you been attending beginnings of the Seventh-day Advent- camp meetings?" ist Church. One segment of this reli- My uncle's clear, loud voice would gious stir was labeled the "Great Re- always give the same answer. "My par- vival of the West," or the "Kentucky ents brought me as a baby in arms to Revival." It centered in Presbyterian- the first camp meeting ever held in the ism but soon spread to the Baptists Ohio Conference, which was in 1869. and Methodists. Words such as I haven't missed one since then!" My "shakes," "jerks," "laughing," and uncle's record nearly reached the 80- "barking" were coined and applied to year mark. Death was the only thing the excited, emotional manifestations that could separate him from attend- that frequently accompanied these re- ing camp meetings, always for the en- vival meetings. tire encampment. In July of 1800 the first large, planned camp meeting was held in One Dominant Theme Logan County, Kentucky. Some of the The history of the camp-meeting hardy settlers traveled 100 miles to program reveals one dominant theme. hear the gospel preached. In the same The purpose for attending, on the part State the next year a gigantic week- of the majority, was to seek a deeper long camp meeting attracted 20,000- experience with God. Curious spec- 30,000 people. tators were also in attendance, but the Some of the people camped in tents main group, largely comprised of fam- or brush shelters, but most used their ilies, was there to find and worship wagons for living quarters. One of the God more fully. The term camp meet- most amazing facts surrounding this © 1961 REVIEW AND HERALD RUSSELL HARLAN, ARTIST ing became synonymous with words meeting was the closing up of busi- such as confession, repentance, con- nesses and homes while the people Here and on our cover is an artist's re- creation of the first camp meeting con- version, consecration, and dedication. attended this spiritual feast. ducted by Seventh-day Adventists. It was The dominion of the Spirit was ex- Results were both favorable and un- held at Wright, Mich., Sept. 1-7, 1868. tended during these seasons of re- favorable, Emotional excesses were 2 REVIEW AND HERALD, May 30, 1968 evident in the faintings and hysteria. Kingston, New Hampshire. This eight- "would often go away and pray to- Yet there was a turning to God on the day convocation reported attendance gether, and they would not cease until part of many. varying from 7,000 to 15,000. A special the Spirit of God responded to their 90-cent train fare for the 44-mile trip prayers. Then they would return from Camp Meetings Lead to Church Splits from Boston was given to these early the place of prayer with their faces The frequently exhibited orgies of Adventists. The cost of "board and lighted up; and when they spoke to the emotion helped to paint a negative lodging in tents" was "$2 per week." congregation, their words were with image for camp meetings in general. This meeting paved the way for the power. They reached the hearts of the Camp meetings conducted in England purchase of a giant tent to protect the people because the Spirit that gave in defiance of the Wesleyan Methodist eager listeners from heat or rain. A them the blessing prepared hearts to circuit authorities led to the organi- special $1,000 offering was received, receive their message."—Testimonies, zation of the Primitive Methodist and a 120-foot-diameter tent, with a vol. 6, p. 50. 50-foot-high center, was made. One Church in 1811. New Goals a Dividend In 1848 the Old German Baptist newspaper reported that this was the Church, one of the most conservative "largest ever erected in the United From the very beginning the camp branches of the Brethren Church, la- States or probably anywhere else." meeting has been associated with re- beled "Dunkards" because of their trine The public was impressed with the vival, with changed lives, with re- baptismal beliefs, took the following order and decorum that pervaded newed dedication, with new goals. action: "Can it be considered prudent, these tremendous camp meetings, and Most likely you have heard the story or profitable, for members to frequent they probably did more than anything of the woman who was preparing to camp meetings, or protracted meetings, else to direct the attention of the pub- go to camp meeting, as was her custom from time to time? Unanimously con- lic to the judgment-hour message. Mul- each year, when she overheard her hus- sidered, not to be profitable for mem- tiplied thousands heard the truth in band and her son in conversation. She bers so to do."—Minutes of the An- this canvas cathedral. heard her son say, "Why does mom go nual Meetings of the Brethren, p. 115. A source of inspiration for attend- to camp meeting every year? It doesn't A seeking after holiness, especially ing camp meeting can be found in the do her any good." within the Methodist Church, led to comprehensive index to the Spirit of She was deeply hurt by this reference the setting up of class meetings and Prophecy writings. Check the refer- to her quick temper, and determined testimony services. The desire for fel- ences under the heading "camp meet- that this year it would be different. lowship among those of intense spirit- ing." Practical advice on getting the When she came home with a new ex- ual longing led to the development of most out of camp meeting is available. perience, all went well for a few days. "bands," which eventually grew into The Spirit of Prophecy makes it plain Then a particularly exasperating holiness camp meetings. Ultimately, that the great object of camp meetings situation arose. She was in the midst organizations such as the Nazarene is to keep us from being overcharged of a thorough housecleaning when and Pilgrim Holiness churches devel- with the cares of this life. Ellen White word came that a relative was to visit oped. Perfection, holiness, was the cen- refers to the three-times-a-year assem- them. Her husband expected the usual tral theme. blage of God's people in Old Testa- verbal explosion. But she said calmly, The National Holiness Movement ment days. If God's children needed "That's all right. We'll just do the best assumed large proportions in 1867, these holy convocations then, surely in we can." when the first general Holiness camp the light of our degenerate and devalu- The husband, surprised by her quiet meeting was held at Vineland, New ating times, our need is nearly insati- reaction, left to bring home the rela- Jersey.