In late 1904, a 26-year-old coal miner named Evan Roberts stood up in a prayer meeting at Moriah Chapel in Loughor, Wales, and asked people to do three things: confess sin, remove anything doubtful from their lives, and obey the Holy Spirit. Then the worship began. And it did not stop for two years.
A Young Man on Fire
Roberts had been praying for revival for over a decade. He would wake at 1 a.m. and pray until dawn. During a series of meetings earlier that year, he had experienced what he described as a baptism of the Spirit that left him weeping and unable to function normally. His friends thought he was losing his mind.
But when he returned to Moriah Chapel and the congregation began to sing, the atmosphere changed. The worship was not led from a platform. It erupted spontaneously from the pews. People sang hymns, wept, confessed publicly, and praised simultaneously. Visitors described the sound as overwhelming — like the entire building was breathing.
A Nation Transformed
Within weeks, the revival spread across Wales. Over 100,000 people came to faith in less than a year. Pubs closed for lack of customers. Magistrates reported empty courtrooms. Police formed choirs because they had no crime to investigate. The Welsh coal mines were so affected that pit ponies temporarily stopped responding to commands because the miners had stopped swearing.
The worship gatherings ran without a set programme. Roberts would sometimes sit silently for hours while the congregation sang. There was no order of service. The worship was the service.
Legacy
The Welsh Revival influenced movements around the world, including Azusa Street the following year. Roberts, who suffered a nervous breakdown from the intensity, retreated from public life. But the worship that poured out of those chapels in 1904-1905 reshaped an entire nation.
What This Means for You
Revival does not start with a strategy. It starts with people who are willing to sing, confess, and stay in the room longer than is comfortable. The Welsh Revival is a reminder that worship is not a warm-up act for something more important. Sometimes worship IS the main event.