The last mainland British revivals?

This year sees the centenary of the last major evangelical revival on the British mainland.

Among its converts was the father of Stanley Griffin (1930–2004), who went on to write the definitive account, A Forgotten Revival (DayOne, 1992). Drawing from it, let’s go back to 1921 to see what God has done…

On 7 March Douglas Brown, minister of Balham Baptist, south London, arrived in Lowestoft, Suffolk – the UK’s most easterly town. It was a busy fishing port, like elsewhere still recovering from the Great War and a global flu pandemic! Brown was coming to preach for five days at London Road Baptist where, for some time, an average of 90 people had met regularly to pray that God would show his power in their town. Having been ill Brown brought a colleague along in case he could not get through the week. Little did he know that he would preach 370 times in the next three months!

Morning prayer, afternoon Bible studies and evening preaching commenced that Monday, and on Wednesday Brown spoke about Jesus healing at Bethesda (John 5). Concluding, he asked anyone wanting to surrender their lives to Christ to see him in the vestry. As the congregation sang ‘I hear thy welcome voice, that calls me Lord to thee’, so many people went to seek help that they had to open another room and that night nearly 70 people, mostly aged 15 to 20, were converted.

‘Come to Christ where you are!’

The next meeting was held at the Fishermen’s Bethel, where Brown spoke from Matthew 14, comparing Peter stepping on water to believing God’s word and trusting Jesus. Afterwards so many tried to come out to the front that they could hardly move and Brown shouted from the pulpit: ‘You will have to come to Christ where you are!’

Seeing all this, the event’s organisers asked Brown to return for a second week, when afternoon Bible studies moved to Christchurch. These meetings actually continued for three weeks, until Easter, when Brown led a series about the Second Coming. Sometimes Christians were asked to leave – and pray – to make room for the unsaved. Young men sat on the floor at the front to free up seats for those entering at the back and many more, including children and young people, came to faith.

For the last week in March, meetings moved to the 1,100-seater St John’s, which often filled up an hour early with people sitting on window sills, the pulpit steps, around the font, and in the aisles. On 2 April crowds came to the station to wave Brown back to London, singing ‘God be with you ’til we meet again’.

Yet again he returned for meetings in outlying villages. At St Michael’s in Oulton he and other ministers knelt at the front to rededicate themselves to God in thanksgiving for what had happened. As they did so, three-quarters of the congregation joined them. An open-air service took place on Somerleyton Green, and a final meeting at St Michael’s Institute was so full that many had to listen in from outside.

Similar scenes were then repeated across East Anglia. A group of ministers in Ipswich had been praying for revival every week for a year and invited Brown to come to speak at Burlington Baptist at the end of May. Over 1,000 gathered and again hundreds responded to the preaching, with young people confessing their love for Christ through joyful tears. Prayer and conversions continued after Brown returned to London but he was back in June, also speaking in Stowmarket on divine sovereignty and human responsibility in Christian witness.

The same month he visited Norwich, preaching at St Mary’s Baptist, sharing the pulpit with Canon Aitken of the Cathedral – converted in the 1859 revival – and Princes Street Congregational where young people were seen pleading for the salvation of parents and grandparents. Five days in Cambridge saw 200 converted as Baptist, Primitive Methodist and Anglican leaders were joined by evangelist Gypsy Smith. The summer evenings were unusually warm and these meetings hadn’t been advertised, yet venues still filled to capacity. In September Brown was back in Lowestoft to address the annual convention. As one newspaper put it: ‘All East Anglia was on fire for God’!

Herring for God’s glory

That may have been the end of the story except for the herring, which God also used for his glory! Every year, starting in the spring, fishing fleets followed migrating shoals from the Hebrides to the Shetlands, then south past Scottish ports like Wick, Fraserburgh and Peterhead, eventually arriving at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft in the autumn. Others who worked with the landed fish travelled there by train, including fisher-girls and coopers (barrel makers).

One such cooper who arrived at Yarmouth that year was Jock Troup from Wick, also a gospel preacher. The visiting workers would often wile away their free time at Yarmouth market place, where at 9pm on 15 October, Troup held an open air meeting, preaching from Isaiah 63 about the promised Saviour. Suddenly rough, tough fishermen were falling to their knees, convicted of sin and crying to God to forgive them. One witness said it looked like a battlefield. Conversions continued for weeks, sometimes with whole fishing crews, Scottish and local, affected. Brown returned to Yarmouth in November and joined Troup to take meetings in Deneside Methodist Church and St George’s.

Then one day Troup thought he had a vision of a man in Fraserburgh praying that God would send him to them. Called away like Philip leaving Samaria in Acts 8, he gave up coopering and travelled there as a full-time evangelist. On arrival he preached in that market-place and God’s power fell again. Sure enough he soon found a Baptist church which had just sent a message to summon him. Meetings were arranged and the revival spread to North-East Scotland as he travelled from town to town. Meanwhile meetings with Brown and others continued in Yarmouth where hundreds of people walked to attend through snowy blizzards in November, often staying late into the night.

When the Scottish boats left, after a disastrous herring season in terms of fish caught, the converted crews and workers took their new-found faith back to their home ports where many more were saved. For some years, each time the Scottish boats returned to East Anglia, mini-revivals followed. It should be mentioned that revival had also come to Northern Ireland in May through the ministry of W. P. Nicholson.

God had stirred his people to pray and surrender themselves to Him – including the principal preachers involved – and showed His power by convicting and converting large numbers of people at once. The movement was characterised by clear gospel preaching, visibly changed lives, restored relationships and joyful testimonies. What’s more, its effects lasted and resulted in more peaceful communities and increased Christian service.

It is good that we ‘remember the deeds of the Lord’ (Ps.77), but may this centenary year cause us to cry out all the more: ‘Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?’ (Ps.85).