Methodism in the American Forest

About this book

Methodism found its home in the American forest. It was quickly learned that only a fool would, in the new country, adhere to John Wesley's mandate for preaching in fields. Under the blazing American sun, Methodist preachers found a better outdoors 'sanctuary' for larger gatherings. Camp meetings, if not a Methodist invention, became the movement's signature. Over the course of the nineteenth century, Methodism matured as a denomination and so did its uses of the camp meeting, changes that this volume tracks.