Hebrides Revival

Background

The Hebrides are islands scattered across the Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of Scotland. Around 1949 the Free Church of Scotland was reportedly the largest denomination on the Isle of Lewis. Although the island had a strong Presbyterian tradition, church leaders at the time are said to have been concerned that young people were leaving the church. On December 9, 1949, a local newspaper reportedly carried a notice that a resolution lamenting the spiritual barrenness of the parishes and calling for repentance would be read in the Free Church congregations.

In the village of Barvas on Lewis lived two sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith, both in their eighties. Peggy was blind, and Christine suffered from arthritis, so neither could attend public worship. The sisters are said to have prayed for revival at home, holding fast to the promise of Isaiah 44:3. Peggy told the Rev. James Murray MacKay that she had received an assurance that the church would once again be filled with young people. MacKay then reportedly began holding separate prayer meetings in a barn with the church office-bearers.

Course of Events

• 1949: MacKay invited Duncan Campbell (1898–1972), an evangelist associated with the Faith Mission. Campbell at first declined because of a scheduled mission on another island, but when that engagement was canceled he came to Barvas. His arrival is generally dated to December 1949. Meetings planned for about ten days continued for roughly two years. Campbell maintained that he had not brought the revival and that it had already begun before he arrived.
• 1950 onward: Meetings continued late into the night. Many testimonies record that people prayed under conviction of sin outside the church building, along the roadsides, and in the fields. Campbell identified the village of Arnol as the place of fiercest opposition. He recalled that after a prayer meeting was held there, revival swept through the entire village.
• 1952: The revival spread to Harris as well. Campbell recorded that in April 1952 he visited Bernera, a small island off the coast of Harris, and witnessed revival there. Sources differ on when the revival ended, giving either 1952 or 1953.

Results and Influence

Those who experienced the revival testified that the atmosphere of their villages changed dramatically and that social vices disappeared. Campbell later spoke about this experience in many places, and transcripts of his addresses circulated widely as booklets. In 1974 Andrew Woolsey's biography of Campbell, Channel of Revival, was published through the Faith Mission. The revival is frequently cited in English-speaking evangelicalism as a classic example of a revival that began with the intercessory prayer of a few. In Korea it has also been introduced, through series in Christian media and elsewhere, alongside the Welsh Revival and the Great Pyongyang Revival.

Assessment

Those who regard the revival highly point to its deep repentance, a strong sense of the presence of God, and preaching centered on Scripture.

There was opposition even at the time. Campbell said that some ministers suspected him of unsound doctrine because he taught the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He also recalled that ministers came from the mainland to hold meetings opposing him. According to one explanation, because the Faith Mission was partly influenced by the teaching of John Wesley, strict Calvinists regarded Campbell as an Arminian. Campbell's defenders, by contrast, counter that he firmly believed in the sovereignty of God.

In historical scholarship, the nature of the sources is also a point of contention. A 2018 master's thesis submitted to the University of Glasgow observed that accounts of the revival have been transmitted largely through Campbell's own interpretation, and it argued that both supporters and critics have relied on that interpretation. The thesis concluded that an accurate historical understanding requires distinguishing Campbell from the revival rather than treating the two as one.