My husband and I were at his work Christmas Dinner and we had the privilege of sitting across from his boss, Paul. Paul is a huge history buff and an encyclopedia of information. During our conversation, a fire at Balls Creek Campground came up. Balls Creek is in Catawba County, NC. The camp meeting campgrounds is used specifically for just that, camp meetings, which are usually held in August. After some questions about the 'tents' that had burned at the campground which are actually buildings, my interest was spiked.
I think most of us have heard the term Camp Meetings and visualize something in our heads of what they were like. Surprisingly there are still camp meetings today in some areas, NC having two in their state. And surprisingly they are still somewhat the same considering the difference of one hundred plus years.
So what were they, really? Presbyterian minister James McGready is credited for the first large Camp Meeting in America in the late 18th century.
Camp meetings came about due to the mass amounts of Americans who flooded out west in the late 18th century. Although the west population grew immensely, western America had vast amounts of land and people didn't live close to each other or for that matter many didn't live close to a town. This is what brought about the circuit riders of the mid 1700's to the frontier and to the rural areas of the south.
These pioneers who took on settling a wild west longed for fellowship and worship. The circuit riders were clergy men assigned to geographic territories that they would travel to. They'd minister to the people of those areas. But this still didn't fill all the needs of the settlers. The Camp Meetings helped fill that gap. The meetings were always held at a time when families could leave their farms, crops, and work to spend several days away in travel, fellowship, and worship.
Word of mouth, newspaper ads, flyers, and posters were ways the word of Camp Meetings got out. As many as 10,000 to 20,000 people would show up at these events. Many would travel long distances to gather and worship. The settlers would pitch tents, and camp out for days as the outdoor Church Camp Meeting continued for up to a week. The service would go all day and well into the night. There would be lots of preaching, prayer meetings, singing, as well as weddings and baptisms. This week long of fellowship helped to revive and renew the spirits and the settlers.
|1839 Methodist Camp Meeting|
How about you? Did you know what a true Camp Meeting was? Have you been to a real Camp Meeting before? How about your family, parents, grandparents?
Debbie Lynne Costello is the author of Sword of Forgiveness, Amazon's #1 seller for Historical Christian Romance. She has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina with their 5 horses, 3 dogs, cat and miniature donkey.
After the death of her cruel father, Brithwin is determined never again to live under the harsh rule of any man. Independent and resourceful, she longs to be left alone to manage her father’s estate. But she soon discovers a woman has few choices when the king decrees she is to marry Royce, the Lord of Rosencraig. As if the unwelcome marriage isn’t enough, her new husband accuses her of murdering his family, and she is faced with a challenge of either proving her innocence or facing possible execution.
Royce of Hawkwood returns home after setting down a rebellion to find his family brutally murdered. When all fingers point to his betrothed and attempts are made on his life, Royce must wade through murky waters to uncover the truth. Yet Brithwin’s wise and kind nature begin to break down the walls of his heart, and he soon finds himself in a race to discover who is behind the evil plot before Brithwin is the next victim.