Abrush arbor revival,[A] also known asbrush arbor meeting,[B] is arevival service that takes place under an open-sided shelter called anarbor, which is "constructed of vertical poles driven into the ground with additional long poles laid across the top as support for a roof of brush, cut branches or hay".[1]
Methodists andBaptists widely use brush arbor revivals to communicate the Christian proclamation ofsalvation, which have historically contributed to the growth of thesedenominations.[2][3] For Methodists, this salvation message includes preaching the doctrines of theNew Birth andentire sanctification, as well as callingbacksliders to repentance.[4][5] They originated in the 1700s, being regularly assembled whenitinerant preachers announced in advance that they would be arriving in an area; their design served to protect seekers from precipitation.[1] Though brush arbor revivals continue in the present day, they are the forerunner of the Methodistcamp meetings.[6] Their success has historically led to theplanting of local churches, as was the case with the American churches Morris Chapel United Methodist Church inWalkertown, North Carolina, and Swift Creek Methodist Church inMacon, Georgia.[7][8][9][10] Many of the firstSunday schools run by Methodists were held under brush arbors.[11]
True to his times in so many respects, Walden became a Christian and a Methodist by way of a typical brush-arbor revival in rural Ohio.
The ministers believed that their teaching on the doctrines of regeneration, entire sanctification and the one New Testament Church definitely identified them with the original Apostolic Church of the first century... Most revivals were held in tents, brush arbors and rented temporary buildings.
Many of the early societies formed as outdoor gatherings under brush arbors. Many churches of Methodism, in their historical accounts, point back to their origin in a brush arbor.
Swift Creek Methodist Church originated from a summer brush arbor revival held near Swift Creek shortly after the end of the Civil War in 1865.
In 1943 at a brush arbor revival just off Highway 5, in what is now Laurie, twelve members voted to build a church on land given by Mr. and Mrs. Billie Hibdon.
