In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

148 7 Religion and Women Toward a More Compassionate Home Life All eyes in the nation turned toward Kentucky in the summer of 1801; the topic of the day was the great evangelical revival under way six miles east of Paris at the Presbyterian Cane Ridge Meetinghouse. Everyone was invited, and Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist ministers spoke to large crowds that gathered—as many as twenty-five thousand on some afternoons. The meetings were extremely emotional, but many converts were faithful to their commitment the rest of their lives. Two new denominations, the Christian Church and the Disciples of Christ, were born as a result, and Baptist and Methodist churches greatly increased in membership. In those days of patriarchal home life, the “king” at the head of the home was never to weep—it was unmanly. But, at Cane Ridge, heads of households by the thousands dropped to their knees in repentance and in public for the first time had streams of tears running down their cheeks. The great beneficiaries were their wives and women who married young men converted at the revival because from that day forward converted husbands tempered their rule with a love that had been absent previously. Women also received the personal fulfillment of experiencing religious faith themselves, the comfort of church membership, and a feeling of being completely involved in a meeting that had great impact on the nation.1 Almost as soon as Kentucky settlers made a clearing in the forest, they participated in a religious service; on Sunday, May 28, 1775, under an elm tree at Boonesborough, Anglican minister John Lyth led a worship service that included a prayer for the king of England. After the Revolutionary War, some religious groups, such as the Baptists, moved to Kentucky Religion and Women 149 to escape persecution in the East.2 However, observers of Kentucky in the 1790s commented on the lack of interest in religion on the part of many residents . While Kentuckians themselves were not irreligious, a mix of superstition , animism, and Christianity seemed to emerge in many areas. Baptist preacher David Barrow described the religious persuasion of Kentuckians as “anythingarians” in 1795. As the nineteenth century approached and the numbers of residents in the state increased, conditions for a revival movement came together. The result was the birth of the Great Revival. The effects of the movement created religious diversity within Kentucky and played a major role in the shaping of American religious history.3 Kentucky’s revival movement began, not in the center of the state, but in the Green River area in western Kentucky. As historian John Boles pointed out, Logan County in 1800 was ready for a significant religious awakening .4 There was a sense of expectation, and the population was young. In addition, recent immigrants to the state came from areas where organized church activities were an important part of life, and many of these migrants looked to join another church. Into this atmosphere came James McGready, a Presbyterian minister born in western Pennsylvania in 1760. McGready was licensed to preach in North Carolina in 1788 and became known for very fiery and pointed sermons to both the plain folk and planters of Orange County. For example, in his sermon “Terms of Discipleship,” he declared: “All mankind are passing to the eternal world—hastening to heaven or hell—as fast as time, with his rapid flight, can bear them.” Most people, he said, seek pleasure and happiness in this world, but a minority, “a lonely few, are seeking happiness beyond the grave—seeking an inheritance —a kingdom, an eternal crown of unfading glory.” His congregants were not all in favor of such preaching, and, after several acts of vandalism that McGready interpreted as death threats, he moved to Kentucky in 1796 to join several former parishioners in Logan County. By the next year, he was preaching in three local churches—Gasper River, Muddy River, and Red River.5 McGready prayed, and, as he rode the circuit of the three churches, attendance increased in the spring and summer months for the next two years, and he began to feel a sense of spiritual renewal in his congregations. Then suddenly, one Sunday in July 1799 at the Red River Church, several people came under conviction and fell to the ground. It happened again at Gasper River in August, and word spread through the county that people [3.136.154.103] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 19:49...

Share