1905 American Awakening
When the news of the coming revival reached America, huge conferences of ministers met in New York, Chicago, and other cities to discuss what to do when it began in the U.S. And, they met just in time.
The 1905 Awakening first burst out in the east sweeping like a fire through the Eastern states.
The Methodists in Philadelphia soon had over 6,000 new converts in trial memberships; the ministers of Atlantic City claimed there were only 50 adults left unconverted in a population of 60,000! Churches in New York City took in hundreds on a single Sunday: one recording 286 new converts, of which 217 were adults, 134 men and 60 the heads of families.
The Awakening, then, "rolled like a tidal wave" through the sough, packing churches for prayer and confession, adding thousands to memberships rolls. First Baptist of Paducah added a thousand in two months; the elderly pastor died from over work.
In the Middle West, churches were suddenly inundated by great crowds of seekers. Every store and factory closed in Burlington, Iowa to let employees go to services of dedication and intercession. The mayor of Denver declared a day of prayer; by 10:00 a.m. churches were filled; by 11:30 a.m. almost all stores were closed. Every school closed. The Colorado legislature closed; 12,000 attended prayer meetings in downtown theatres and halls. The impact was felt for years.
In the West, great demonstrations marched through Los Angeles streets. United meetings pulled crowds of 180,000. The Grand Opera House, in Los Angeles, was filled at midnight with winos and hookers seeking salvation. The Spirit fell on a handful of men seeking God for revival and meetings broke out in the Azuza Street Chapel which ran unending day and night for three years. Healings and miracles drew crowds from all over the United States, birthing the Pentecostal movement which now exceeds 50+ million believers the world over.
For three hours a day business practically stopped in Portland, Oregon, while salesmen joined with their customers in prayer in the downtown churches. 200 department stores closed by agreement from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Church membership in the seven major denominations jumped by 870,389 in 1906 alone. In five years it has increased by two million and was still growing. This did not even include the gains of younger denominations of Holiness or Pentecostal dynamic whose rate of increase was even greater. This 1905 awakening could well of added more than 5 to 10 million new converts to American churches within the first decade of this century.
The largest U.S. denomination of those days, the Methodists, in review, declared that the revival had "sparked the public conscience, overthrown corrupt officials, crossed party lines, and elected Governors, Senators, Assemblymen, Mayors, and District Attorneys of recognized honesty." The people of Philadelphia "threw the rascals out" and put in a dedicated mayor.
"A wave of morality went over the country, producing a revival of righteousness. Corruption in state and civic government encountered a set-back for a dozen years, and the country was committed in a new degree to civic and national integrity, until new forces of corruption came back in the 1920's following the 1st World War