The Second Great Awakening occurred between the 1790s-1840s and was characterized by emotional preaching that appealed to feelings rather than just the mind. It featured large camp meetings with preachers from different denominations and an emphasis on the imminent Second Coming of Christ and social transformation. As a result of this revival, Baptist and Methodist membership grew as they overtook other denominations, and new denominations such as AME and Mormons emerged.

1. THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Hark, Hark, It’s Time To Repent!

2. INTRODUCTION
 The Second Great Awakening occurred in
the US between the 1790s-1840s.
 Unlike the First Great Awakening, this revival
was Armenian.
 Main Christian groups involved were the
Baptists and Methodists.
 By the end of this period of revival Baptists
and Methodists overtook Congregationalists
and Anglicans as the largest Christian
bodies.

3. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
 Drop in church attendance in the US.
 Influence of Deist ideas.
 Preoccupation with “earning a living.”
 Declining religious convictions.
 False sense of security stemming from a
“once saved always saved” theology.
 Influence of revolutionary ideals.

4. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Emotionalism:
 Great appeal to the emotional: heart religion
 Preaching to the feelings and not just the
mind.
 Religious enthusiasm—by the preachers as
well as the hearers.
Emphasis on the Second Coming
 Bringing in the Millennium
 Emphasis upon social change and
transformation

5. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Camp Meetings:
 Several preachers used over three to four
weeks.
 High attendance by both churched and
unchurched persons.
 Long services—sometimes late into the
night.
 Use of preachers from different
denominations.

6. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Use of Itinerant Preachers:
 Methodists especially mastered this method.
 Lay preachers were often used.
Armenian Soteriology:
 Free will emphasized
 Salvation is available to all
 Emphasis upon living a transformed life.

7. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Egalitarian:
 Use of women preachers
 Use of African Americans
Restorationist Impulse:
 Desire to return to primitive Christianity
 Anti-Trinitarian and averse to formal
organization.

8. SOME PROMINENT PREACHERS
 Barton W. Stone: non Calvinist Presbyterian
 Alexander Campbell: Presbyterian and early
Restorationists
 Thomas Campbell: Presbyterian and early
Restorationists
 Richard Allen: Founder of AME Church
 Jarena Lee: African American Methodist
Episcopal
 Antoinette Brown Blackwell: first ordained
female minister in the US.
 Charles Finney: anti-Calvinist Presbyterian

9. RESULTS
 Growth in the membership of Methodists and
Baptists
 Development of new denominations such as:
 AME
 Advent Christians
 Mormons
 Seventh-day Adventists