The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

VIII. Grove Meetings in God’s Great Out-of-Doors

Still another form of preaching employed was the outdoor grove meeting. This sprang out of the need for a short rally, and was held in a grove of trees near some town. Less pretentious than the camp meetings, these assemblies nevertheless partook of the same general characteristics. A speaker’s stand was erected, with temporary seats for the people constructed under the trees. Folk gathered from the country and small towns around to hear the advent message, the majority presumably returning to their homes for the night and coming again on the morrow. Contemporaries tell us that shapely trees extended their long branches to form arches of noble beauty. And hemlock spires, piercing heavenward, adorned these majestic churches of the forest in God’s great out-of-doors, thus contributing to the spirit of worship. These meetings usually lasted but a day or two, though in instances for several days. ²² On November 3, 1843, the report appeared in the Midnight Cry: PFF4 596.2

“We have had no less than ten or twelve grove meetings, of one and two days continuance, where the people would assemble from ten to fifteen miles around, to hear about the coming of the Lord.” ²³ HENRY DANA WARD, D.D. (1797-1884), grandson of soldier-statesman Artemas Ward, first commander of the Revolutionary forces, was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He was graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in 1816 and an M.A. in 1819. He had recognized classical attainments and was a successful teacher. After ordination in Charleston, West Virginia, he was made rector of St. Jude’s Church, New York City. He wrote much for the Signs of the Times, and as an eyewitness of the meteoric shower of November 13, 1833, wrote of it as a sign of the last times and a fulfillment of Matthew 24:29. The earliest located writing by Ward is an exposure of Free Masonry (1828). His other books included Glad Tidings (1838), Telescope of Faith, Promises to Abraham, Kingdom of God, Restitution of the Earth, and Israel and the Holy Land. His History and Doctrine of the Millennium (1840), was a really scholarly work. Ward’s later writings include The. Gospel of the Kingdom ... Not of this World; The Bible, Its Testimony and Promises,, The History of the Cross, The Faith of Abraham, The Everlasting Covenants of Promise, and Israel ana the Holy Law. Ward’s early exposure of Free Masonry (1829:399 pp.) evinces the same characteristic thoroughness of research in its forty documented chapters and its extensive bibliography. He was a careful student, going to the bottom of whatever he was investigating. PFF4 597.1

The Millerites surely adapted themselves to circumstances. In New York City, and other cities, theaters or halls were leased, or tabernacles built, as noted elsewhere. But in rural environs the grove meeting was popular. They all had the same objectives, and were rewarded with similar results. PFF4 597.2