The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the late 18th to early 19th century in the United States. It spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching and sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a key part of the movement and attracted hundreds of converts to new Protestant denominations. The Methodist Church used circuit riders to reach people in frontier locations.
A Methodist camp meeting in 1819 (hand colored engraving)
1839 Methodist camp meeting
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, the MEC reunited with two breakaway Methodist denominations to form the Methodist Church. In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.
Philip Embury preaching during the first Methodist meeting in New York City
Founded in 1766, John Street Methodist Church in New York City is the oldest Methodist congregation in North America. The third and current church on this site was built in 1841.
Established in 1810, Central United Methodist Church in Detroit is the oldest Protestant church in Michigan. The current building was constructed in 1866.
An 1819 engraving of a Methodist camp meeting