Remembering the Beaufort Revival (Pt I)
Beaufort’s Rich Spiritual History
Living in Beaufort for the first 18 years of my life made it very easy to take for granted the beauty of this majestic town. I am probably not alone in that; I am sure that many of us forget that not every town has exquisite views, Spanish moss-covered oak trees, history that dates back centuries, all of which are only matched by the wonderful people who live here.
As I’ve gotten older and returned to Beaufort, I’ve grown to appreciate this beautiful place more and more. “Beautiful Beaufort-by-the-sea,” as my grandmother used to call it, is undoubtedly the most wonderful town in America, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather live. I will forever be grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me the privilege of growing up and pastoring here.
But it’s not the beauty and charm of Beaufort that makes me most excited about being here. There is something else, something eternal, that gives me great hope for what God could do in this community. It is my conviction that God has a wonderful future for this community, and I count myself blessed to be a part of it. One of the reasons I’m confident of this is that God has already done it before in Beaufort, and I am convinced that He is able to do it again (Eph 3:20-21).
During the Second Great Awakening, which transformed much of the east coast between the 1780s and 1830s, Beaufort was the scene of a great revival, of which even many locals are not aware. While our friends at The Baptist Church of Beaufort and at The Parish Church of St. Helena have done good work in remembering what God did here to transform Beaufort through the preaching of His Word, I first learned about the Beaufort revival in 2003 by reading Dr. Douglas Kelly’s book entitled Preachers With Power. In this book Dr. Kelly (who would soon become my mentor) tells of a preacher from Savannah who came to Beaufort to preach a series of evangelistic messages. From these meetings came one of America’s greatest experiences of the power of God’s Spirit to transform an entire community.
A Rich Spiritual History
The early 1800s were a time of both economic and political difficulty in the district of Beaufort, also known as St. Helena’s Parish. Beaufort, which had been one of the wealthiest of the Sea Islands, suffered just as others did in the wake of the Depression of 1819. Cotton prices had plummeted, and many had left South Carolina in order to find better work. At the same time, there was a large political division in the community known as the Nullification Crisis. The core issue dividing South Carolina and the young nation was whether or not the federal government could impose laws upon the states without the approval of those states. South Carolina and others argued that the Constitution was a compact that was freely entered into by sovereign states, and thus those states, within their boundaries, could nullify the rulings of the federal government if they felt it necessary.
This controversy was exacerbated with the federal tariffs of 1828 (known as the “Tariff of Abominations”) and 1832, both of which raised objections from many South Carolinians. Perhaps the greater concern behind these tariffs was not so much the financial cost of paying more taxes, but concern that the federal government was overstepping its bounds. South Carolina dug in its heels, seeking to protect states’ rights. In response to the resolute South Carolinians, Congress sought to compromise. But it was too little, too late and in November 1832 a state convention declared that the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional.
Although South Carolina and the federal government were eventually able to reach an agreement in the Compromise Tariff of 1833, there was still much division between nullifiers and unionists. The district of Beaufort, with much to lose because of the wealthy plantations, felt the impact of the division as well. Even within local families there was dissension over the issue, and at times the hostility was intense.
Perhaps the hostility of this setting makes the account of God’s amazing work here even more remarkable.
The Preaching of Rev. Daniel Baker
The story of the Beaufort revival starts not in Beaufort, but in Savannah at the historic Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, the same church that partnered with us in 2013 to plant First Scots. Independent Presbyterian, founded in 1755, was pastored by the Rev. Daniel Baker at the time of the Nullification Crisis.
Rev. Baker was born in Midway, Georgia, in 1791. After graduating from Princeton, he pastored several churches in Virginia. However, due to a slumping economy, the churches were unable to retain him and he took a call at Independent Presbyterian in Savannah. Although Baker was called as the full-time pastor of Independent, he also possessed a zeal for hosting evangelistic meetings in communities throughout the south.
In the early 1830s, he preached a series of meetings in Bluffton and Gillisonville. One who was in the crowd at those meetings was a Beaufort lawyer named William Barnwell. Although Barnwell had grown up in church, his interest in God had taken a backseat to the busyness of practicing law. Yet upon hearing Baker preach, Barnwell was drawn to saving faith in Christ. In his excitement over the message he had heard Daniel Baker preacher, Mr. Barnwell encouraged Rev. Joseph Walker of The Parish Church of St. Helena to listen to Rev. Baker’s preaching. Walker knew the Gospel alone could change people, and he quickly agreed to have Baker preach a series of services in Beaufort in October 1831 (although some sources argue for an 1832 date).
The first issue to be decided was where the meetings were to be held. Beaufort Presbyterian Church, founded in 1804, had already closed its doors, so it was determined that the meetings would be split between The Baptist Church of Beaufort and The Parish Church of St. Helena.
Baker, forty-years-old at the time, preached three times each day for ten days at the two churches with much support from the leadership of each (although the leadership did at times have to urge the congregations to support this movement that was so different from their own traditions). Each day, notices were sent to homes in the area announcing the place and hour of the services for the following day. The churches were packed and a high percentage of people from the community attended at least one preaching service during the series.
The results were astounding: This community that had previously been distracted with politics and concerned with an uncertain future suddenly was enthralled with the preaching that they heard from Baker. The Holy Spirit had done His work of preparing the people, and they responded with fervor to Baker’s messages. In Baker’s own words, “O what blessed meetings we had! Three times every day did I preach and every day and night to full houses. Besides it was usual to have what was called a ‘concert of prayer’ at the going down of the sun.”
Evidence of the Work of God’s Spirit
It is nearly impossible to overestimate the work that God did in our community! The Holy Spirit’s work through Baker’s preaching was powerful and transformative. Some who came only to mock the preaching of God’s Word left as transformed people. The same community that only days before had been divided over politics was now being united under the banner of Christ. There was no question that Beaufort was experiencing revival!
But what would happen with all of these converts converted under the Presbyterian pastor’s preaching? Baker’s concern was not to start a new church, but to encourage new converts to join the churches that already existed and were thriving in the community. As a result, the Parish Church of St. Helena took in at least 70 new members, and the Baptist Church of Beaufort received about the same. Those who came to faith in Christ ranged from age fourteen to eighty-six. It is estimated that in total, Baker’s preaching led to two or three hundred new converts. Many others grew in zeal, and the faith of many was renewed.
Not only did local churches grow, but as a result of these services, many young men sensed a calling to full-time ministry. One of those young men was Richard Fuller, a Beaufort lawyer who would eventually become pastor of the Baptist Church of Beaufort. It was under Fuller’s leadership and guidance that the current sanctuary of the Baptist Church of Beaufort was constructed in 1844.
Another beneficiary of Baker’s preaching was a local lawyer, Stephen Elliott. Elliott, twenty-five years old at the time of hearing Baker, was converted and sensed a calling to the ministry. Five years later, in 1836, he was ordained a priest and later served as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia. He eventually became the 37th bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first and only Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America.
In total, at least eleven young men entered the ministry as a result of these meetings. And the effects of the revival were not limited to only a few who entered full time ministry; the entire fiber of town was changed. What was once political unrest became spiritual fervor, and the community seemed to be saturated with an awareness of God.
Consider the words of Mr. Grayson, editor of the Beaufort Gazette:
We had frequently heard of religious revivals with no concern, we regret to say, when our little town became the scene of these striking and interesting events. The Rev. Daniel Baker, of Savannah, has been with us for some time, and never, surely since the days of the Apostles, has more fervid zeal, or ardent piety, or untiring labor been devoted by a Christian minister to his cause. For ten unwearied days, from morning until nine at night, have we heard the strongest and most impassioned appeals to the heads and hearts of his hearers. All that is terrible or beautiful; all that is winning or appalling; all that could steal, and charm, and soothe the heart, or shake its careless security, and command its attention to the truths of religion, we have seen pressed upon our community with an earnestness, energy, and affectionate persuasiveness almost irresistible.
The effect no one can conceive who was not present. Politics were laid aside; business stood still; the shops and stores were shut; the schools closed; one subject appeared to occupy all minds and engross all hearts. The church was filled to overflowing…When the solemn stillness was broken by the voice of the preacher, citing the impenitent to appear before the judgment-seat of heaven; reproving, persuading, and imploring …and when crowds moved forward and fell prostrate at the foot of the altar, and the rich music of hundreds of voices, and the solemn accents of prayer rose over the kneeling multitude, it was not in human hearts to resist the influence that awoke its sympathies, and spoke its purest and most elevated feeling.
Animosities long continued, were sacrificed; cold-ness and formality were forgotten. Our community seemed like one great family…
I don’t know about you, but that gets me excited! We all want to see change and growth in our community and our country, and we all have our own solutions for it. But God has His solution as well: to send His Spirit in power so that people would be converted, and an entire community, even one torn apart by politics, can be united as the body of Christ.
Over the coming letters, we’ll take a deeper look at this powerful working of God’s Spirit in our dear community. We will examine the ways God used those who were converted, as well as how we should understand what exactly happens in revival. Finally, we’ll examine how we can seek God’s grace that He might do it once more here in Beaufort!
