A definite pattern of worship developed in the revival movements of the American frontier and in the campaigns of American evangelists. This “revivalistic” approach to worship has continued as the dominant tradition in the “free churches” of America and is found today particularly within the fundamentalist and evangelical communities.
Interest in religion waned in the years immediately following the American Revolution. Westward expansion certainly did not help matters. It dispersed sparse populations across vast expanses of the West, away from formal, organized communities and away from organized parish life. The revivalists of the early nineteenth century initially sought to provide this scattered population with the essentials of religion. The revival camp-meeting developed as a means to provide the most basic rudiment of all: conversion.
Charles G. Finney, the leading revivalist of the early nineteenth century, adapted the format of the backwoods revivals and brought this frontier phenomenon to the cities of the eastern seaboard. When in the mid-1830s Finney decided that, for the sake of his family, he must curtail his travels and settle down to a pastorate, the methods used in his revival campaigns became the basis for a revised approach to liturgy. Finney and his methods (called the “new measures” ) are cited below as archetypes of revivalist influence. Revivalist patterns, though, were as varied as were the numerous American denominations of the period.
Conversion-centered Worship. The rambling frontier lifestyle in the West contrasted sharply with the traditional American liturgical forms as practiced in the more cosmopolitan East. The established denominations in the East largely employed well-educated clergy who directed their attention toward a relatively educated populace (that is, when compared with the population of the West). The set, traditional liturgies, and the often scholarly bent of the homilies did not touch the hearts of the rough and independent settlers in the West and were discarded by the revivalists as “dead orthodoxy.” The revivalists believed that the Spirit brings life, full and vibrant, to touch the soul; they sought, therefore, to reach their listeners on a visceral level. Finney and his revivalist contemporaries aimed at producing “true heart-felt religion,” implying that religion not felt by the heart was not true religion. The emotional emphasis inherent in revivalism, a type of vernacular romanticism, reflects this yearning for a heartfelt faith.
Stemming as well from the romantic ethos of the age was the individualistic emphasis in revivalism—not only dramatic, heartfelt conversions, but dramatic heartfelt individual decisions for Christ. Faith must be chosen; informed mental assent must be given to the truth of Christianity. One could not become a Christian by birth, but only by a new birth, a birth by choice, founded on a decisive, dramatic experience. Finney, a lawyer by training, was known to plead with his audiences, as with a jury, arguing the case for repenting and coming to Christ.
Finney brought with his new measures a new ecclesiology, which, in turn, brought about a new approach to liturgy. Departing from the centuries-old model of the church as a covenant community whose primary responsibility was to worship God and to encourage individual and corporate growth in faith, Finney posited evangelism as the primary focus in church life. This focus on evangelism led to a new liturgical stance for Sunday worship, one following the camp-meeting model. Finney tried to do away with what he saw as “dead orthodoxy”—prepared and lengthy prayers, eruditely written sermons, ominous psalm-singing—in favor of sprightly songs directed to the needs of the sinner, emotionally stirring sermons designed to promote repentant response on the part of the hearers, and fervent, heart-felt praying for the souls of the lost. The focus and content of sermons changed to imitate the revival pattern as well. With conversion rather than corporate worship as the focus, the sermon became the most direct means of persuading the unconverted in the congregation to give their lives to Christ. Altar calls, previously unheard of in a worship service, became frequent elements of the liturgy. The role of the pastor changed from worship leader to preacher.
It would be inaccurate to imply that all of Finney’s pastoral sermons were “salvation” sermons. Indeed, Finney sought to address doctrinal and social topics as well. His passionate preaching, however, coupled with his quasi-Arminian theology which emphasized the role of the individual will in the process of salvation and spiritual growth, demonstrated his belief that constant introspection and repentance are necessary elements of the Christian life. Extant is a letter from one of Finney’s parishioners which notes a sermon delivered in 1845 which, although not on an evangelistic topic, produced such a response in the congregation that a spontaneous, congregationally led altar call followed the sermon.
Revivalism and Church Architecture. A secondary outcome of the revivals was architectural change. Finney’s designs for the two churches he pastored (Broadway Tabernacle in New York City and First Church in Oberlin, Ohio) illustrate these changes. Eighteenth-century family box pews were done away with, and slip (bench) pews took their place. This new arrangement could seat more people in a given area and focused attention on the “stage” area. Finney designed his churches with the emphasis on preaching; pews were set in a semicircular manner in order to bring the parishioners closer to the preacher. The change in seating arrangements reflects the individualistic emphasis of revivalism; whereas the box pews had accommodated family participation, the new pews allowed the attention of each congregant to be centered on the preacher. Choir and organ were moved, in the new designs, from the side of the nave or from the balcony to the stage, an arrangement reflecting their change in function from worship aids to accouterments of evangelistic performance. Rather than a large pulpit at the side of the chancel area, Finney desired a smaller, central pulpit or lectern. The communion table was moved back or to one side, deemphasizing the sacrament as a primary focus of the liturgy.
Certainly not all members of the Protestant community were enamored of the methods of Finney and the other revivalists. While some ministers eagerly employed the “new measures,” others decried them as heretical or improper. Yet, despite the debates over revivalist methods, who could argue with their success, if we measure success in terms of numbers of respondents? Within a generation, religious interest had moved from the fringes of American life to a central position in society.