A tent revival is a gathering of Christian worshipers into a tent erected specifically for revival meetings, healing crusades and church rallies. Tent revivals had both local and national ministries. For an example of how a tent revival was instrumental in the history of one church see First Church of the Nazarene, Mexico, Missouri. Monument honoring the right to worship, Washington, D.C. In Christianity, worship has been considered by most Christians to be the central act of Christian identity throughout history. ... A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held with an eye to encourage active members of a religious body and to provoke those outside of it to become part of it. ...

The tent revival is a development of the old camp meetings in which religious people gathered to hear a preacher. Tent revivals are still active today in many modern countries (for example, in the American South) but are very popular in Africa, where some churches have permanent tents erected. In the United States tent revivals ranged from small local based tents holding perhaps a hundred to large organizations operating throughout the continental United States equipped with a fleet of trucks and tents capable of holding thousands of people. Historically, in the United States most tent revivals were held by Pentecostal or Holiness Christians who were not only evangelical but believed in speaking in tongues (glossolalia), healing, and in some cases even the resurrection of the dead. As radio and television began to play an increasingly important part in American culture some preachers such as Oral Roberts, a very successful tent revivalist, made the transition to radio and television. Such pioneers were the early televangelist. A watercolor painting of a camp meeting circa 1839 (New Bedford Whaling Museum). ... Historic Southern United States. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Tongues redirects here. ... This article is about Oral Roberts, the Christian televangelist. ... In the USA, a televangelist (television evangelist) is a religious minister (often a Christian priest or minister) who devotes a large portion of his (or her) ministry to TV broadcasts to a regular viewing and listening audience. ...

References

Can Somebody Shout Amen! Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Revivalists, by Patsy Sims, published by St. Martin's Press, 1988.

Links

[1]Holy Ghost Revival Online - a good example of the style, music, and belief system that was common in the American tent revival movement.

Cultural representations

• Elmer Gantry, a novel by Sinclair Lewis
• Resurrection, a film with Ellen Burstyn and Sam Shepard