The Miners of Kingswood

George Whitefield, one of the greatest preachers and evangelists ever, was regularly refused access to Churches; he was viewed as deceived, subversive and unorthodox. Instead, he would simply go and find big open spaces and begin to preach. It was not uncommon for 10 000+ people to be in attendance, many of whom would never grace the presence of their local Churches. In 1789, he came to Bristol and this is what happened...

"I hasted to Kingswood. At a moderate computation, there were above 10 000 people. The trees and hedges were full. All was hush when I began. The sun shone bright and God enabled me to preach with great power, and so loud, that all, I was told, could hear me...To behold such crowds standing together in such awful silence, and to hear the echo of their singing run from one end of them to the other was very solemn and striking...The gladness and eagerness with which these poor despised outcasts, who had never been in a church in their lives, received the truth, is beyond description! Having no righteousness of their own to renounce, they were glad to hear Jesus, who was the friend of publicans and came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The first discovery of their being affected was to see the white gutters made by their tears, which plentifully fell down their black faces; black as they came out of the coal-pits. Hundreds and hundreds of them were soon brought under deep conviction, which as the event proved, ended in a sound and thorough conversion." (Taken from The Life and Time of George Whitefield by Robert Philip p.103-104).

The Kingswood Miners were no friend of itinerant preachers; "the colliers were numerous and utterly uncultivated. They had no place of worship. Few ventured to walk even in their neighbourhood; and when provoked they were the terror of Bristol" (op. cit. p.101)

I loved reading about this for a number of reasons. Firstly, God has done it before and it reminds me He'll do it again. Secondly, true, anointed preaching DOES change lives. People who seek to undermine the role of proper preaching and teaching in our Churches and across the Nation should learn from the likes of Whitefield. We do not need to water down the true Gospel to accommodate people. We do not need to resort to silly story telling, homiletic gimmicks or life coaching lectures. No, anointed preachers will produce anointed preaching which, under the power of Holy Spirit will transform both the hearers and the Nation of which they are citizens. Finally, it challenges me to aim for more. Settling for second best is not an option when it comes to the salvation and discipleship of souls.