The Fulton Street Revival
Historical Account★★★★Awakening—Late 1850s
Jeremiah C. Lanphier, a layman, accepted the call of the North Reformed Dutch Church in New York City to begin a full-time program of evangelism. He visited door-to-door, placed posters in boarding houses, and prayed. But the work languished and Lanphier grew discouraged.
As autumn fell over the city, Lanphier decided to try noontime prayer meetings,
thinking that businessmen might attend during their lunch hours. He announced the
first one for September 23, 1857, at the Old Dutch Church on Fulton Street. When
the hour came, Lanphier found himself alone. He sat and waited. Finally, one man
showed up, then a few others.
But the next week, twenty came. The third week, forty. Someone suggested the
meetings occur daily, and within months the building was overflowing. Other
churches opened their doors. The revival spread to other cities. Offices and stores
closed for prayer at noon. Newspapers spread the story, even telegraph companies
set aside certain hours during which businessmen could wire one another with news
of the revival.
“Robert J. Morgan, On This Day (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997) August 9th.
The revival—sometimes called “‘The Third Great Awakening”—lasted nearly
two years, and between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people were said to have been
converted. Out of it came the largest outlay of money for philanthropic and Christian
causes America had yet experienced.
The point
The daily noon prayer meeting begun by Jeremiah Lanphier in 1857 sparked the Fulton Street Revival, which converted hundreds of thousands across America.