The Presbyterian General Assembly in Philadelphia closely monitored reports of the physical exercises of the Great Revival. In the official minutes for 1803, the assembled ministers praised the “unusually cheering” revival news from the west and boasted that the “prospects of our Church” seemed “more favourable than they have been at the date of any former report.” Later reports published between 1804 and 1809, however, took an increasingly dim view of “bodily agitations.” The escalating negative outlook of leading Presbyterian clergymen tracked closely with the rise of the jerks and troubling theological and ecclesiastical controversies in Kentucky and Tennessee. Click here to view excerpts from the General Assembly minutes from subsequent years.
The committee appointed to collect, and present to the Assembly, the substance and general result of the information obtained by the Assembly, respecting the general state of religion within their limits, reported. The report being read and considered, was adopted, and is as follows:
“The Assembly heard, at more than usual length, and with more than common satisfaction, the accounts received from their members, of the state of religion within the bounds of the Presbyterian church. Since an inquiry of this nature has become part of the annual business of the Assembly, it may be confidently asserted, that no result was ever presented to our body so favourable, and so gratifying to the friends of truth and piety.
There is scarcely a Presbytery under the care of the Assembly, from which some pleasing intelligence has not been announced; and from some of them, communications have been made, which so illustriously display the triumphs of evangelical truth, and the power of sovereign grace, as cannot but fill with joy the hearts of all who love to hear of the prosperity of the Redeemer’s kingdom.
In most of the northern and eastern Presbyteries, revivals of religion of a more or less general nature, have taken place. In these revivals, the work of divine grace has proceeded, with a few exceptions, in the usual way. Sinners have been convinced and converted by the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, and have been brought out of darkness into marvellous light, and from the bondage of corruption to the glorious liberty of the children of God, without any remarkable bodily agitations, or extraordinary affections. In this calm and ordinary manner, many hundreds have been added to the church in the course of the last year, and multitudes of those who had before joined themselves to the Lord, have experienced times of refreshing and consolation from his presence.
In many of the southern and western Presbyteries, revivals more extensive, and of a more extraordinary nature, have taken place. While many within the bounds of those Presbyteries have been, as is hoped, effectually called, without any exercises other than those which have generally attended the progress of vital piety, there have been multitudes of instances in which great bodily agitations, and other circumstances out of the usual course of religious exercise, have attended the work. As these extraordinary appearances have been before announced to the Assembly, as the knowledge of them is generally diffused throughout the American churches, it is not judged necessary to enter into minute details on the subject. The Assembly would only observe, that although they forbear to express any opinion as to the origin and nature of some of those circumstances which have attended the southern and western revivals, and which have attracted so much of the attention of the religious world, yet they are constrained to acknowledge with thankfulness, that the last year, while it presented a continuance and great extension of this extraordinary work, furnished also increasing evidence that it is indeed the work of God, for which the friends of piety are bound to praise his holy name.
The Assembly cannot believe that a dispensation by means of which the ignorant are enlightened, the vicious reclaimed, the erroneous made to ac knowledge and obey the truth as it is in Jesus, the haughty infidel humbled, and brought to bow, penitent and believing, before the cross of Christ, and the general aspect of society, changed from dissoluteness and profanity, to sobriety, order, and comparative purity, can be any other than a dispensation of the grace of God. And as there appears to be growing evidence, that these are the happy fruits of the above mentioned remarkable work, the Assembly cannot hesitate to recognize in it the same divine power, which has in every age appeared in a greater or smaller degree, to build up Zion, to confound the wisdom of the world, and to show that when the great Head of the church will work, none can hinder him. It would be easy for the Assembly to select some very remarkable instances of the triumphs of divine grace, which were exhibited before them, in the course of the very interesting narratives presented in the free conversation; instances of the most malignant opposers of vital piety, being convinced and reconciled; of some learned, active, and conspicuous infidels, becoming the signal monuments of that grace, which once they despised; and various circumstances which display the holy efficacy of the gospel. But forbearing to enter into minute details on this subject, they would only in general declare, that in the course of the last year, there is reason to believe, that several thousands within the bounds of the Presbyterian church, have been brought to embrace the gospel of Christ, and large accessions of zeal and of strength, as well as of members, given to his people.
The Assembly were gratified to be informed, that even in those parts of our church where no remarkable revivals have occurred, the word and ordinances of the gospel have been in many places more generally, and more seriously attended upon, in the course of the last year, than for some time before; that infidelity is less bold and active than formerly; and that, on the whole, appearances have become more encouraging since the last conversation in the Assembly on this subject.
The Assembly consider it as worthy of particular attention, that most of the accounts of revivals communicated to them, stated that the institution of praying societies, or seasons of special prayer to God for the outpouring of the Spirit, generally preceded the remarkable displays of divine grace with which our land has been recently favoured. In most cases, preparatory to the signal effusions of the Holy Ghost, the pious have been stirred up to cry fervently and importunately that God would appear and vindicate his own cause. The Assembly see in this a confirmation of the word of God, and an ample encouragement of the prayers and hopes of the pious, for future and more extensive manifestations of divine power. And they trust that the churches under their care, while they see cause of abundant thankfulness for this dispensation, will also perceive, that it presents new motives to zeal and fervour in applications to that throne of grace from which every good and perfect gift cometh.
The Assembly also observed, with great pleasure, that the desire for spreading the gospel among the destitute inhabitants on our frontiers, among the blacks, and among the savage tribes on our borders, has been rapidly increasing during the last year, in various parts of our church. The Assembly take notice of this circumstance with the more satisfaction, as it not only affords a pleasing presage of the spread of the gospel, but also furnishes agreeable evidence of the genuineness and the benign tendency of that spirit which God has been pleased to pour out upon his people.
The Assembly consider the prospects of our church in the frontier settlements, as more favourable than they have been at the date of any former report. They are gratified to hear, from various quarters, that new churches are rapidly forming, increasing in the number of their members, and in their punctual attendance on the means of grace; that many of these churches have been, within a short period, supplied with stated pastors, and that more missionary labours are called for in the above mentioned settlements than any arrangements heretofore made can possibly supply.
Information of a very pleasing nature was also communicated to the Assembly, by the delegates from the General Association of Connecticut, of a work of divine grace in various parts of that State, especially in Yale College; in which important institution many of the youth have hopefully become pious. The probable influence of such an event, in so respectable a seminary of learning, on the church of Christ generally, and particularly in the state of Connecticut, cannot but make a very pleasing impression on the friends of piety.
Source
Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America: From Its Organization A. D. 1789 to A. D. 1820 Inclusive (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, [1847]), 273–276.
