A Survey of 20th-Century Revival Movements in North America
by
Richard M. Riss
A Survey of 20th-Century Revival Movements in North America was copyrighted in 1988 and published by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 3473, Peabody, Massachusetts. The book has seven chapters, a postscript, notes and a select bibliography contained on 202 pages.
Richard M. Riss holds a Master of Christian Studies degree from Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia (1979) and a Master of Arts in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (1988). He has authored two other books, including The Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1977) and The Latter Rain Movement of 1948 and the Mid-Twentieth Century Evangelical Awakening (1987).
The back cover has this statement about the contents of the book. "The twentieth century has witnessed periodic revivals comparable to the awakening of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. And yet, many of the places and players of these reawakenings have been overlooked or neglected by the chroniclers of North American church history. A Survey of 20th-Century Revival Movements in North America attempts to set the record straight. It offers a concise and useful survey of the major currents of revival that have swept over this content since the turn of the century. As the final decade of this century approaches it is appropriate that historian Richard Riss chart the course of twentieth-century revival on this continent and record the people, places and events that have shaped the modern American church.
Names like William J. Seymour or Maria B. Woodworth-Etter; places like Azusa Street or North Battleford, Saskatchewan; and events like the Forest Home Briefing Conference or the Latter Rain Revival might not be as familiar as Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, or the Jesus movement, but each has played a significant role in keeping the streams of revival flowing.
The impact of these often lesser-known figures and events is tremendous. For example, William J. Seymour was a key figure in early Pentecostalism, which has become one of the most rapidly growing segments of modern Christianity. Also, college awakenings at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, North Park College, and Wheaton College in late 1949 and early 1950 received nationwide press coverage and sparked college revivals throughout the country. A decade later, in 1960, Dennis Bennett's experience of the Holy Spirit in Van Nuys, California, would mark the beginning of a tremendous outpouring of the Spirit, and for many, came to represent the start of the charismatic renewal movement."
The seven chapter titles reveal a hint of seven of the major revivals during the Twentieth century.
The Background of Twentieth-Century Revivals
The worldwide Awakening of 1904-1906
The Early Pentecostal Revival
The aftermath - Early Pentecostalism
The Healing and Latter Rain Movements
The Mid-Twentieth-Century Evangelical Awakening
The Revival of the 1960's and 1970's
Because it is a survey and not an in-depth account of any of these people, places or, events the information presented is only an overview of them. Other works are available detailing a more complete account of the individual events recorded here. However, for those unfamiliar with the many revivals and movements occurring during the twentieth century, this is a good place to start learning.