The Cane Ridge Revival of August 1801 has been called “America’s Pentecost.” It brought together in the backwoods of Kentucky many thousands of people who, despite their denominational differences, joined in fasting, prayer, singing, and preaching to seek renewal. 

Presiding over the six-day event was Barton Warren Stone, a Presbyterian minister. Stone said that he and others had prayed for a revival, and that God “answered by fire; for he poured out his spirit in ways almost miraculous.” Hundreds were converted, and thousands experienced visible, often dramatic manifestations of God’s presence. 

Stirred by the experience of Cane Ridge, a loose network of congregations formed, sometimes called “New Light,” more often simply “Christian.” The beginnings of modern-day Churches of Christ are rooted precisely here.

Drawing upon the most recent scholarship, this volume explores such questions as: 

• What was the British background to Cane Ridge?

• What were the controversial “exercises”?

• What was the role of women and blacks in the revival?

• How did the revival shape the new “Christian” movement?

• And what became of the revival theology with which it was born?