Revival Meetings

[mike]

It's that time of year in conservative Mennonite churches, and I'm wondering how broad the practice of revival meetings is in the churches of MN members. Respond to the poll and discuss revival meetings generally.

In the church we are attending, which is probably typical of many conservative Mennonite churches, the fall revival meetings provide an opportunity for young people to make a decision to follow Christ, followed by instruction class, baptism, and church membership. So they are a sort of seasonal ritual or rite of passage. Additionally it's a time when people can deal with problems or lack of spiritual zeal in their lives. These of course are not bad things necessarily, but I feel a little ambivalent for various reasons.

Thoughts?

[Neto]

The decision I made which actually "stuck" came to a head on a Friday evening, in a week of revival meetings at the MB church where I grew up. I already knew I needed to make a change before that, but I was hanging back, until my best friend nudged me in about the 16th verse of "Just as I Am", and said, "You need to go up there." I did, and while I cannot recall anymore who "dealt" with me, or what I prayed, it made the difference.

But I know what you mean about having some reservations perhaps. There tends to be a lot of emotional appeals, and the evangelists that come to our congregation here in Holmes County are no exception. Back home, in the MB setting, we would have in some non-Mennonite evangelists at times, more in the later years, as we got more and more non-MB people in as members, and as the community changed from a farming community into a "bed-room community" for Tulsa. One was a Baptist - Southern Baptist, "the worst kind", as they say - and he was actually a football coach in one of the area public schools. He used the song "I never Promised You a Rose Garden" as part of his message, and it was a sort of memorized message, because I heard the same one from him at another time.

I think the after-care - followup - is the most important part, more crucial than the sometimes frenzied meeting. In my case, I soon enrolled in the membership candidate class (which met every day during the summer, for a couple of weeks or more), and that's where I I'd say I got the non-emotional grounding.

[Josh]

We have them for an unpredictable length, often a week and a half. Revivals are concluded with communion and, sometimes, an ordination.

[steve-in-kville]

I had to vote no, as we do a Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday services and its called renewal services or something like that.

[mike]

I had to vote no, as we do a Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday services and its called renewal services or something like that.

Clearly this is apostasy

[mike]

There tends to be a lot of emotional appeals, and the evangelists that come to our congregation here in Holmes County are no exception.

Yes, this is one of my reservations about revival meetings. When our three oldest children were interested in becoming followers of Jesus, they talked to my wife and I, we discussed it together and prayed with them, and of course it was an emotional time but there wasn't a lot of public social pressure like there is in revival meetings.

[cmbl]

In the church we are attending, which is probably typical of many conservative Mennonite churches, the fall revival meetings provide an opportunity for young people to make a decision to follow Christ, followed by instruction class, baptism, and church membership. So they are a sort of seasonal ritual or rite of passage. Additionally it's a time when people can deal with problems or lack of spiritual zeal in their lives. These of course are not bad things necessarily, but I feel a little ambivalent for various reasons.

Thoughts?

I agree with those being not bad things necessarily. I would feel ambivalent-to-negative about revival meetings.

I believe that, historically speaking, "revival meetings" were much more emotionally charged than the ones we see in a typical conservative Mennonite church today. (We still do see some emotional charge, but I think it used to be worse.) So we have this hybrid tradition, that was historically about crisis conversion, now being filled with a less aggressive, more Mennonite spirituality.

[Josh]

In the church we are attending, which is probably typical of many conservative Mennonite churches, the fall revival meetings provide an opportunity for young people to make a decision to follow Christ, followed by instruction class, baptism, and church membership. So they are a sort of seasonal ritual or rite of passage. Additionally it's a time when people can deal with problems or lack of spiritual zeal in their lives. These of course are not bad things necessarily, but I feel a little ambivalent for various reasons.

Thoughts?

I agree with those being not bad things necessarily. I would feel ambivalent-to-negative about revival meetings.

I believe that, historically speaking, "revival meetings" were much more emotionally charged than the ones we see in a typical conservative Mennonite church today. (We still do see some emotional charge, but I think it used to be worse.) So we have this hybrid tradition, that was historically about crisis conversion, now being filled with a less aggressive, more Mennonite spirituality.

Part of the Holdeman approach is to hold revival meetings, but personal conversions of young converts and converts’ meetings are typically held several weeks (or months) later.

I prefer this to encouraging public conversions on the spot after a week of protracted meetings.

[mercysfree]

Our church calls them special meetings. Covid has thrown a spoke in, but a couple years ago what we were trying for was one week of special meetings (spring) and one weekend church retreat (fall).

I agree the revivalist emphasis on emotionalism is unfortunate. That was prominent in my Baptist background, and I'm thankful the church I am part of now leaves the goading up to the Holy Spirit.

[mennonitemom1]

We have them for an unpredictable length, often a week and a half. Revivals are concluded with communion and, sometimes, an ordination.

can't wait!