A GREAT REVIVAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19800, 27 May 1926, Page 10

A GREAT REVIVAL.

SWEEPS OVER BRITAIN. INTENSE ENTHUSIASM SHOWN. ALL CHURCHES PARTICIPATE. The great religious revival, for which thousands of men and women have been loosing during these years following th® war that threw the world into chaos, ha* come at last, soys a London paper. Mrs M'Pherbon, the young Baptist minister who, a month ago, held remarkable meetings at the Surrey Tabernacle, South Loudon, which could not hold the crowds that thronged to hear her twice a day, returned to London on Easter Monday, and during the nest row days conducted a revival campaign. It is a significant fa;t that no fewer than 32,iW.) people were present at three religious gatherings or. Good Friday On Biackncath the... clergy and choirs of 15 churches, botn Anglican and Nonconformist, held a simple service at Whitcfield Mount, so called because George \Vhitelleld, the eighteenth century evangelist, frequently conducted open air meetings there. The service was very impressive, the great congregation joining heartily in the singing of several wellknown hymns. Then, at the Congress Hall. Clapton, General Booth conducted a day of devotion, and 13,000 people clamoured to hear him. At the Crystal Palace the audience, also numbering 13,000, joined with wonderful effect in the singing of the choruses of sacred works. At the Regent Theatre, King'* Cross, the Bishop of London conducted a service whica he said was a finale of a Gospel mission in the district. The world, he said, was coming round to say about the Gospel, "Give us that—there is none like it.” PACKED CHURCHES. A Sunday Chronicle representative who made a tour of London and the suburbs on Good Friday found churches packed to over, flowing, and abundant witness to the fact that the religious revival is by no means confined to the evangelical churches. At St. Saviour's, Ealing, a typical AngloCatholic church at which, on great festivals, it is necessary to arrive half an hour before the time to pain admittance, there was a congregation of about 15,000 people, who remained for the whole of the three hours' service At Westminster Cathedral, in the evening, an enormous congregation filled the widest nave in England for the two hours’ service. At neither of these services is there the slightest ritual appeal. No one would attend them unless he or she was vitally eu thusiastic about the cause of Christ. At Richmond, Surrey, one of the largest kinemaa was packed to the doors for ft service conduclcd jointly by a Church of England clergyman anJ a Congregational minister. THOUSANDS OF LETTERS. If proof were needed of the revival ct interest in religion it is to be found in the thousands ol letters that have reached th® Sunday Chronicle from readers who are interested in its invitation to them to express their views as to how the Church coulo ba made more popular. It is important to note that recruits ar® now coming forward for ordination in th® Church of England in increasing numbers, and a new training has been prepared in London which will tap a fresh source. Many yuung men engaged in their occupations have a leaning towards Church work, but have been prevented by financial reasons from becoming ordained. The new scheme is for the training of such candidates in the evening,- while still carryino’ on their ordinary work. It has* been prepared by the Rev. Colin Kerr, rector of Spitalficlds, and has been approved by the Bishop cf Louden aud the four suflragan bishops.