Fulton Street Revival

In 1857, James Buchanan had just become president. The Second Great Awakening had occurred in the United States a few decades ago, bringing religious fervor to the United States. Some groups of the time believed that the Lord was coming back; many thought that they had to perfect their own lives to usher in the millennium. New religious ideas had joined the American landscape, including the Seventh Day Adventists and the Christian Scientists. The religious excitement was starting to die down at the time that the Fulton Street Revival began.

The Fulton Street Revival was never meant to create a big stir for the Lord. It started off when church members of the Old Dutch Reformed church in lower Manhattan decided to close its doors. One of the members, Jeremiah Lanphier, didn't think that it would be right to leave that part of the city without a gospel witness, so he went from door-to-door in order to try to convince people to come to the church. When that didn't happen, he decided to do what many Christians decide to do when things aren't turning out well. He decided to pray.

He passed out some fliers in the area, inviting people to a prayer meeting. On September 23rd, 1857, the prayer meeting began at 12:00 noon. Jeremiah was the only person there for most of the hour. At 12:30, he was still the only attendant, but Jeremiah heard some people coming. Six people eventually showed up before 1, before he dismissed the meeting.

Another meeting was held the next week, and 14 people showed up. 23 people showed up the week after that. 40 came the next week. At that point, they decided to meet daily. God continued to move, and thousands of people started showing up shortly after that.

Photo by Mattox.

In 1856, the country went into a recession. On October 14, 1857, the Panic of 1857 occurred. Over 5,000 businesses failed that year, and the stock market fell 66% between 1852 and 1857. The panic spread to other parts of the world. The American economy wouldn't recover completely until the civil war.

The financial crisis created a situation where people were turning to God. By the end of October, at least 100 men were coming to the daily prayer meetings.

Photo by The Library of Congress.

Reports of revival spread. Ontario, Canada was experiencing revival that November. In New York City, 10,000 businessmen were praying by the March of 1828 on a regular basis. Churches all over the city were packed at lunchtime and in the evening.

The wave of prayer spread to Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston. Revival spread into the South.

Over a million people got saved during this period of revival, when only 35 million people lived in the country. If a revival like this one broke out in America today and a comparable amount of people would turn to the Lord, between 9 and 10 million people would get saved.

Life in the 1850s was difficult. Unemployment was high. In 1857, recession started. The nation was divided over the question of slavery. The gold rush that began in 1849 left some people with money, but others left impoverished. Greed created fights and price gouging out in California. Many were used to prosperity, which led them to think that they did not need God, and many were uninterested in religion.

People of the 1850s had a lot in common with people today.

In addition to reaching more people with the gospel, the revival changed the actions of Americans all across the country. Charitable organizations were formed to help the poor and the needy. The YMCA was started for Christians to spend time in recreation together. The Sunday School movement took hold.

Preachers like D.L. Moody and John Wanamaker started their careers. Songs that inspire Christians still today, such as "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know," "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," and "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" were written, as well as the incredible catalog of Fannie Crosby songs. Christianity seemed to have reached a golden age in America.

Photo of a Sunday School from the Department of the Interior.

The revival spread throughout the whole world. England saw around a million converts, and crime declined there noticibly. The Salvation Army was formed. Missionaries were sent throughout the world. Zula and Banta tribesmen found the Lord. People were saved in Fiji. Moslems were saved in the East Indies. People were convicted of sin in Jamaica, where drunkenness and couples living together before marriage declined.

Missionaries were sent to Asia. Hudson Taylor was sent to China, and although the Chinese later closed the country, he had an impact that lasted there for years. People in South America were reached.

The Fulton Street Prayer Meeting inspired people to pray, and inspired a book: Marvels of Prayer, Illustrated by the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting, with Leaves from the Tree of Life. It was written about 1875, and although you can purchase the book through Amazon.com, you can download it for free, as it is in the public domain.

One can only hope. There are people that still love the Lord, as can be seen from the turnout at Glenn Beck's 8/28 Restoring Honor event in Washington DC. I pray that the events that are occurring, and the introduction of a new Black-Robed Regiment today, will bring about a new revival in America.

According to Marvels of Prayer, the Fulton Street prayer meetings went on for at least seventeen years. Some people have tried to start another revival like the Fulton Street Revival, but as far as I know, it hasn't been duplicated since. That doesn't mean that we can't try.

Many people today think that God is going to come back soon, and that we are in the last days. Some see this as a reason to believe that revival will never happen again here. Why not? The Bible says that there will be a falling away in the last days; that is true. If we are truly in the last days, shouldn't we spend more time in prayer, rather than less? Shouldn't we pray for all the people suffering in this country, and people suffering all around the world? For the people that are dying for claiming the name of Christ?

Even if revival doesn't begin again, perhaps we should spend more time with God. Whether we think that the time is short, or if the Lord's coming isn't for decades or centuries, we need to keep on praying. Who knows, maybe another revival will start.