William McCulloch (minister)

William M'Culloch (1691 – 18 December 1771) was Minister of Cambuslang during the extraordinary events of the Cambuslang Work (1742) when 30,000 people gathered in the hillsides near his church for preaching and communion. Many were there struck by their own depravity and horrified at the probable punishment after death. Trembling, wailing, great pain, nose-bleeding and other strange behaviour was followed in some cases by striking conversions when they suddenly felt accepted by Christ. This gave rise to great rejoicing and singing. It was later calculated that about 400 people had been converted, though many had backslided. The Reverend M’Culloch was a strange person to be at the centre of this phenomenon — one that was being repeated in the American Colonies at the time. He was a poor preacher and claimed never to have experienced the strong feelings of sin or conversion that so many others had reported.

He was born in 1691, the son of the schoolmaster at Whithorn, in Galloway. The late 17th century was a troubled time. Three years earlier, William of Orange had landed in England and was now establishing himself and his wife Mary Stuart as joint sovereigns of England and, separately, of Scotland and Ireland — replacing the Catholic King James II of England, VII of Scotland, his wife's father. One of the key issues underlying this so-called Glorious Revolution, at least in Scotland, was the structure of the Church of Scotland. King James had wanted it to be Episcopal, as the Church of England was, with bishops appointed by the King. Many in Scotland wanted a more Presbyterian type of structure, where each local church was governed by a Kirk Session of Elders, that is converted Christians. Kirk Sessions were to be responsible for the correct behaviour of everyone in their Parish and had the power to appoint suitably qualified persons as the Parish Minister. Parishes were grouped into area Presbyteries which in turn were grouped into large area Synods. The General Assembly was a representative body of all the Parishes, Presbyteries and Synods. Galloway, where William M’Culloch was born and received his early education, was an area of particularly fervent Presbyterianism. During the previous eighty years it has seen a great deal of support for resistance to the Scottish government, in the form of bands of Covenanters — those who wished to see the country governed by those who had experienced Christian conversion.

...
Wikipedia