TheWelsh Methodist revival was anevangelical revival that revitalisedChristianity in Wales during the 18th century. Methodist preachers such asDaniel Rowland,William Williams andHowell Harris were heavily influential in the movement. The revival led eventually to the establishment of the WelshCalvinisticMethodists as a denomination (now more commonly known as thePresbyterian Church of Wales) and it also revitalised olderdissenting churches.
The revival's immediate beginnings are usually traced[according to whom?] to the religious conversion ofHowell Harris atTalgarth church in 1735. While listening to the Rev. Pryce Davies preaching on the necessity of partaking ofHoly Communion, Harris came to the conviction that he had received mercy through the blood of Christ. He began to tell others about this and to hold meetings at his home atTrefeca for these followers.
Many[who?] considerGriffith Jones (1684–1761), the rector ofLlanddowror,Carmarthenshire to have been a forerunner of the Methodist movement in Wales. Through his circulating schools he taught thousands in Wales to read theBible and created a generation of people which would be receptive toMethodist ideas. He also preached in the open air as later Methodist leaders would do. In fact, the newly converted Harris visited him for spiritual guidance and direction, and it was through his preaching that Daniel Rowland was converted and began to preach Methodist ideas.
The other major leader of the early revival wasWilliam Williams, Pantycelyn. He was converted in 1737 as he listened to Harris preaching inTalgarth churchyard.
Following theLlangeitho revival of 1762 members of the revival were often known asJumpers on account of their habit of jumping for joy. This nickname particularly stuck after William Pantycelyn wroteLlythyr Martha Philopur at y Parchedig Philo Evangelius eu hathro (Martha Philopur's letter to the Reverend Philo Evangelius her teacher) followed byAtteb 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 withQuakers (who 'quaked') andShakers (who 'shook').
Rowland and Harris had been at work for eighteen months before they met atDefynnogchurch 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 asseiadau (societies) inWelsh). 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 theChurch of England.
Rowland concentrated his efforts onLlangeitho which became a centre for the movement. OnCommunion Sundays thousands of the members of theseiadau would travel there to receive the sacrament.
The Welsh Methodist revival differed from the Methodist revival in England in that its theology wasCalvinist rather thanArminian. At the beginning the leaders worked with John Wesley, but gradually they parted company from Wesley and became associated withGeorge Whitfield and his patron,Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.
The Methodist revival began within theChurch 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 MethodistPresbyterian Church of Wales in 1823.
The Welsh Methodist revival also had an influence on the oldernonconformist churches, ordissenters—theBaptists and theCongregationalists—who in turn also experienced growth and renewal. As a result, by the middle of the nineteenth century, Wales was predominantly anonconformist country.
