Welsh Methodist revival

The Welsh Methodist revival was an evangelical revival that revitalised Christianity in Wales during the 18th century. Methodist preachers such as Griffith Jones, William Williams and Howell Harris were heavily influential in the movement. The revival ended in the late 1790s after the deaths of Williams, John Wesley and Daniel Rowland; though its influence on Wales led to the establishment of the Calvinistic Methodists and revitalised old dissenting churches.

The revival's immediate beginnings are usually traced back to the religious conversion of Howell Harris at Talgarth church in 1735. While listening to the Rev. Pryce Davies preaching on the necessity of partaking of Holy 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 at Trefeca for these followers.

Many consider Griffith Jones (1684–1761), the rector of Llanddowror, Carmarthenshire to have been a forerunner of the Methodist movement in Wales. Through his circulating schools he taught thousands in Wales to read the Bible and created a generation of people which would be receptive to Methodist ideas. He himself 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.

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