James Morison, the Scottish Finney. IV
After his recieving license to preach in the United Secession Church, James Morison began to preach around the pulpits of his denomination. He appealed pointedly to his hearers at the end of his sermons, and his preaching was appreciated wherever it was heard.
After preaching in various places, Morison was instructed to proceed north and place himself under the supervision of the Presbytery of Elgin. He was sent effectively as a missionary to the far North of Scotland. Heading North, he proceeded to Aberdeen where his first destination was, unsurprisingly, the main bookshops of the granite city. He also visited the Secession ministers of Aberdeen. From there he proceeded further north, to the parish of Cabrach, in Banffshire. It was a poor area, and he lodged in a farmhouse of the old-fashioned type. Like all Highland parishes, Cabrach was really a collection of townships, with a meeting-house located more or less centrally.
The Seceders of Cabrach were in a low state when James Morison arrived among them. They shared their meeting-house with the Independents, each church using it on two Lord's Days every month. Arriving for his first meeting, Morison found no precentor, so he had to pitch the tune himself, something which he was fortunately able to do. His sermon was too literary for the people, because he read a sermon that he had prepared in his early student life. In the evening he decided to preach extempore. He spoke with a freedom and power that he had never experienced before. At once he decided that the common people did not want literary sermons, but earnest extempore discourses. "Orations won'ty save souls," Morison concluded.
At this time Morison was reading Charles G. Finney's Lectures on the Revival of Religion. Finney's emphasis struck a chord with the young Morison, and his early experience at Cabrach seemed to have confirmed Finney's advice concerning the kind of preaching that promoted revival.
At the same time, Morison's theology was shifting in the direction of Finney's. As he preached evangelistic sermons, Morison's logical mind asked "what is the gospel?"
His answer, and what came next, will, God willing, be the subject of our next post.
After preaching in various places, Morison was instructed to proceed north and place himself under the supervision of the Presbytery of Elgin. He was sent effectively as a missionary to the far North of Scotland. Heading North, he proceeded to Aberdeen where his first destination was, unsurprisingly, the main bookshops of the granite city. He also visited the Secession ministers of Aberdeen. From there he proceeded further north, to the parish of Cabrach, in Banffshire. It was a poor area, and he lodged in a farmhouse of the old-fashioned type. Like all Highland parishes, Cabrach was really a collection of townships, with a meeting-house located more or less centrally.
The Seceders of Cabrach were in a low state when James Morison arrived among them. They shared their meeting-house with the Independents, each church using it on two Lord's Days every month. Arriving for his first meeting, Morison found no precentor, so he had to pitch the tune himself, something which he was fortunately able to do. His sermon was too literary for the people, because he read a sermon that he had prepared in his early student life. In the evening he decided to preach extempore. He spoke with a freedom and power that he had never experienced before. At once he decided that the common people did not want literary sermons, but earnest extempore discourses. "Orations won'ty save souls," Morison concluded.
At this time Morison was reading Charles G. Finney's Lectures on the Revival of Religion. Finney's emphasis struck a chord with the young Morison, and his early experience at Cabrach seemed to have confirmed Finney's advice concerning the kind of preaching that promoted revival.
At the same time, Morison's theology was shifting in the direction of Finney's. As he preached evangelistic sermons, Morison's logical mind asked "what is the gospel?"
His answer, and what came next, will, God willing, be the subject of our next post.
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