The Blessings and Burdens of Revival: George Jeffreys: A Revivalist, a Movement and a Crisis, by Neil Hudson
Conclusion
The narrative of Jeffreys’ relationship with Elim leads one to the conclusion that when the answer to people’s hopes and prayers for revival are found in an individual’s ministry, the outcome is far from that which was expected. No individual can carry the weight of their expectations, hopes and desires. The negative effects of Jeffreys’ role in Elim continued long after the positive ministry had ceased. Sometimes the awful truth is that we get what we pray for.
What can we learn from George Jeffreys?
What can church leaders from around the world learn as they look at the ministry of George Jeffreys?
The ministry of George Jeffreys is of real encouragement to church leaders on a number of levels:
- God takes people from inauspicious places and uses them for his purposes. Growing up in Maesteg, no one would have expected that Jeffreys would be noticed by crowds in Britain and continental Europe, and that thousands would give their lives to Christ through his ministry.
- It is not enough to be engaged in evangelism. You have to ensure that converts can become part of churches that will nurture their new found faith. To do otherwise is to be short-sighted.
- God uses flawed people. Jeffreys was not perfect. He could be unreasonable, insecure and confrontational. But he was still used to great effect.
- God gifts flawed people but that doesn’t mean that their flaws do not matter. Jeffreys’ flaws limited his ministry and his effectiveness. Had he been more at ease with his own limitations he could have achieved so much more.
- There is no one perfect church governmental system. It’s pointless trying to look for one.
- Each of us have particular ministries. Try hard not to judge others on the basis of what God has called them to do.
PR
Notes
1 “Religion is reviving”, Sunday Chronicle, 28 April 1931.
2 The account of their first meeting was reported in Confidence, March 1913 (A.A. Boddy, “The Welsh Revivalists Revisited”, 47-49).
3 E.J. Phillips, ‘Coming of Age’ Address given at the Royal Albert Hall, Unpub. Notes, Donald Gee Centre, Mattersey, England.
4 Ibid.
5 E. Coates, ‘The Nineteenth Century of Pentecost’, Elim Evangel, 23 May, 1930, 321f
6 D. Cartwright, The Great Evangelists, (Basingstoke: Marshall Pickering, 1986), 105.
7 N. Brooks, Fight for the Faith and Freedom, (London: Pattern Bookroom, n.d.), 28-32.
8 Letter, J.Dyke to W.G. Hathaway, 2 February 1937
9 Letter, W.G. Hathaway to J. Dyke, 5 February 1937
10 Brooke, 22.
11 Cartwright, 6.
12 W.G. Hathaway, Sound from Heaven, (London: Victory Press, 1947), 5-6.
13 T.B. Barratt in E.Evans, The Welsh Revival, (London: Evangelical Press, 1969), 196.
14 Hathaway (1947, 6) described the ‘Children of the Revival’ as being ‘unfettered by conventional customs’.
15 For a retrospective view see Editorial, “Revival”, Elim Evangel 1 July 1938, 410.
16 G. Jeffreys, Pentecostal Rays, (London: Elim Publishing Co., 1933), 227.
17 Ibid., 228
18 A.A. Boddy, “An Apostolic Welsh Revival”, Confidence, February 1913, 28.
19 Letter, J.Lancaster to author, 18 January 1994.
20 George Canty, another veteran Pentecostal minister confirmed this view, ‘Now the idea of revival was not simply getting a lot of souls saved but the way it was done, that is to say that the power of God would descend, preaching would hardly be necessary and a whole area would be moved and people would be convicted.’ The model was the spontaneous revivals of the past and the dominant prayer of people was, ‘Lord, do it again’. (Interview with author, 24 May 1993).
Category: Church History, Fall 2012, Pneuma Review
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