"Lord, Make it Like Cane Ridge" - Season 1 EPISODE 1
S1E1: "Lord, make it like cane ridge”
In 1801, a gathering to celebrate communion in Cane Ridge, Kentucky started a movement that would go on to indelibly shape Christianity in the South and throughout the world.
As this group of Scots Presbyterians gathered to share in the bread and the cup, they couldn’t have imagined they would soon be accompanied by thousands of others, caught up in exuberant manifestations of the Spirit. Unanticipated and unplanned, the Cane Ridge revival was both a product of its time and something brand new.
In this episode, we explore how ideas of charismatic emotive worship shaped our personal understandings of Southern Christianity. We then discuss the context around Cane Ridge and what led to this ecstatic expression of the Spirit. Finally, we’ll use Cane Ridge as an opportunity to think about questions around legitimacy and leadership within the church.
Production Note:
In the spirit of the unity and non-sectarianism of Cane Ridge, Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell began an ecumenical movement that led to the development of the Disciples of Christ, the Christian Church, and the Churches of Christ. For more information on the Stone-Campbell tradition and the denominations related to them, check out this link
Music by Andrea Yohe.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gaustad, Edwin S., and Mark A. Noll, eds. A Documentary History of Religion in America to 1877. Third Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003.
Gaustad, Edwin, and Leigh Schmidt. The Religious History of America The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today. Revised Edition. New York: HarperOne, 2002.
Griffith, Ruth Marie, ed. American Religions: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Hudnut-Beumler, James. Strangers and Friends at the Welcome Table: Contemporary Christianities in the American South. Chapel Hill: UNC Press Books, 2018.
Conkin, Paul Keith. Cane Ridge: America’s Pentecost. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1990.
Eslinger, Ellen. Citizens of Zion: The Social Origins of Camp Meeting Revivalism. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1999.
“Some Notes on The History of Cane Ridge Prior to The Great Revival.” The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 91, no. 1 (1993): 1–23.
Ford, Birdget. “Beyond Cane Ridge: The ‘Great Western Revivals’ in Louisville and Cincinnati, 1828–1845.” The Filson Historical Society and Cincinnati Museum Center 8, no. 4 (Winter 2008): 17–37.
Johnson, Lillian Vesta Brown. Historic Cane Ridge and It’s Families. Nashville: Blue & Gray Press, 1973.
McClymond, Michael J., and Michael James McClymond. Embodying the Spirit: New Perspectives on North American Revivalism. JHU Press, 2004.
ABOUT CHURCH HISTORIA
Christianity is not an “or” religion.
The incarnation itself demands that we hold in tension that Jesus was both fully human and fully God.
Christianity is an “and” religion.
We think the variety within the Christian tradition is beautiful. We like to use the word tapestry to describe that diversity, the richness that helps us see and hold in tension and balance the “and” of Christianity. This tapestry, with its many shapes and colors across denominations, regions, and countries, helps us hold that tension in which we find ourselves.
Church Historia celebrates the tapestry of the Christian tradition through the lens of history. Hosted by church historian Stephanie Fulbright and church history enthusiast Leslie Eiler Thompson, this new podcast identifies people and places in the Christian tradition and uses their stories to discover new threads in the tapestry of Christianity.
For Christians and non-Christians alike, this journey through the past will help us see ourselves, our neighbors, and our present realities more vibrantly. Season 1, “Who Are Your People?” explores Southern Christian traditions and the history that frames them.
Sign up for the email list to get updates on Church Historia, and additional information when episodes release.
ABOUT THE HOSTS
STEPHANIE FULBRIGHT
HOST, IN-PODCAST HISTORIAN,
AND TEA MISTRESS
Stephanie had an interest in history from a young age and fell in love with Church History in college. In 2017, Stephanie completed her Master of Theological Studies, in Public History of Religion, at Vanderbilt University. Her thesis, Contentious Histories: Why They’re Important and How to Tell Them Well, encourages those in reconciliation and community justice work to think about how history connects with the work they do.
A lifelong passion of Stephanie’s is sharing history and tools of historical thought with others, so we can experience the world around us more deeply and become better neighbors. Stephanie frequently teaches church history and Sunday School programs.
Stephanie can often be found with a cup of tea, a good book, and her Great Dane puppy, Mouse.
LESLIE EILER THOMPSON
CO-HOST, PRODUCER,
AND IDITAROD EXPERT
With a math-teaching father and art-teaching mother, it’s no surprise that Leslie Eiler Thompson’s work often strikes a balance between craft and calculation. Highly creative, idiosyncratic, and multi-faceted, Leslie’s work finds itself taking shape in many forms - from storytelling and writing to podcast hosting (Someone Like Me Podcast) & producing (Tokens Podcast), to owning a creative marketing and publicity studio. There’s even some singing sprinkled into the mix.
Spending most of her childhood and adolescent years on a theatrical stage sparked an attitude of curiosity in Leslie, one which has developed into a call to humanize - to work with heart and to share with purpose and meaning.
Inspiration strikes Leslie in the English-Ivy covered hills just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. In 2020, Leslie got to experience the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska, but that’s another story for another time.