Before the days of large numbers of churches in the Piedmont section of North Carolina, the tradition of camp meetings arose. People actually left their homes, took supplies, and went to religious services where they stayed for several days, usually about a week, and camped. That explains the name “camp meetings.” These events actually preceded the familiar tent revival meetings in our area not too long in the past.
These gatherings were begun by a Methodist Episcopal minister, Rev. Daniel Asbury, from Halifax, North Carolina, who was sent to this area to organize the Methodist circuit. In 1794, he was preaching in Lincoln County where a new church was in the process of being built. So he took the congregation of what would later be Rehobeth Methodist Church outside into the woods where they built an arbor of brushes. At that time preaching services lasted for several days and were the beginning of the so-called camp meetings. Soon after this first one, both Methodists and Presbyterians held these meetings regularly.
Camp meetings were uniquely suited to the agrarian way of life in a frontier area with few established churches and even fewer ministers. Very emotional and evangelical, these gatherings were rural by nature and were always scheduled so as not to interfere with the farming cycle. They were often held in areas that had both woods for shade and privacy as well as a handy water supply. In those days, transportation was slow and inefficient, so the folks going to the meetings always planned for several days away from home.
Although the revival style preaching was the main reason for going, people also used these events for socializing with other people. Their lifestyle did not offer many opportunities for socializing, so they also enjoyed that aspect of the meetings. The time away from their daily labors was a welcome break.
The preachers at these services were generally the “fire and brimstone” types, who often worked up a religious fervor in the crowd. As such, these gatherings were large influences on church membership, especially after the Civil War when the men had returned home.
In the rural South, religion has always been crucial, and nothing was more important than the camp meetings in establishing religion as a major part of life in this area. There were several large meeting places in the North Carolina Piedmont: Rehobeth in Lincoln County; Shepherd’s Crossroads in Iredell County; Wesley Chapel in Catawba County; the Center Arbor and Smith Grove Methodist in Davie County; and the largest of all, Rock Springs in Denver, North Carolina, also in Lincoln County.
Rock Springs is the oldest continually operating camp in this state. It grew out of that first meeting held by Rev. Asbury at Rehobeth Methodist Church in 1794 and is still a huge meeting. The original wood arbor is still used, and cabins have been constructed for visitors to stay in during the two weeks in August each year that the meetings are ongoing. Many of the people are descendants of those people who began going to the services years ago.
My husband, John, who grew up in Lincoln County, recalls going to Rock Springs as a child with his parents. He remembers that several preachers would take turns preaching and that there were also singings. Most of all, he remembers the food and that the meetings were social gatherings where the ladies enjoyed showing off their baked goods!
In any case, this is an interesting part of our history and one that I did not know about until I recently read about the history of Center Methodist Church, where my Dwiggins ancestors were founding members who now rest in the beautiful cemetery there.