Traveling revivals

[nobspeople]

In the USA, traveling revivals (also called tent revivals in some areas) may not be as common as they once were, but still happen - particularly in the South. I have been to some and seen many others on TV, recorded, online (more recently). Not speaking for all of them, but they tend to be more, what's the word....(?)... rambunctious... than the typical Sunday service.
My experience has been more of the 'tent revivals', where a 'preacher' comes, sets up a literal tent, chairs and has services every night for a few days.
Sometimes, these include 'miracle healings', casting out of demons, speaking in tongues, etc (I've even seen recordings of snake handlers for long ago).
Has anyone else experienced these things?
For discussion:
Are these traveling/tent revivals doing god's work, or are they pandering (aka a scam)?
If you'd been to any of these things, was it enjoyable or no?
Did they do any 'healings' or 'casting out' of demons?
Or was it more sedate?

[Difflugia]

Has anyone else experienced these things?

I grew up in the 80s and attended a church where "God" was a two-syllable word. I've been to tent revivals.

If you'd been to any of these things, was it enjoyable or no?

I loved that stuff then and love it now. My sister-in-law's father-in-law is a Pentecostal preacher. He has a special "thumping Bible" (no joke) for his sermons. Before COVID, I went to church with them every chance I got.

Did they do any 'healings' or 'casting out' of demons?

Lots of tongues, "word of the Lord" prophecies, "slain in the spirit," and whatnot. I've been to one healing revival. No demons.

Are these traveling/tent revivals doing god's work, or are they pandering (aka a scam)?

It's a show, for sure. The revivals when I was younger were from so long ago and while I was a Christian myself, so I'm sure those memories is tainted, but I've seen my in-law² "practicing" and it's definitely a rehearsal. He's also a completely different person at home. I think he's an honest Christian, but I'm still not totally sure. He's got a weird vibe, like he gives them what they want and wears a thousand-dollar suit, but he has certain lines that he doesn't seem to cross. I've never seen him hit any of the conservative talking points like racism or homophobia, but he never speaks against them, either. It's like he recognizes that much of his congregation is on the toxic side of Christianity, but he's got a set of standards for himself. He'll toe the line, but stay just on the side of light. It's weird.

Anyone who's never seen it should watch Marjoe.

[Tcg]

Anyone who's never seen it should watch Marjoe.

I've been to revivals, but indoor and tame by comparison. The push was to "rededicate" oneself to God or Jesus. The movie Marjoe opened my eyes to a completely different version of revival. Marjoe was 4 years old if I remember right when he began his "ministry" as a child preacher.




Tcg

[William]

[Replying to Difflugia in post #2]

As someone who wasn't brought up in any faith—I agreed with Marjoe when he said that church could be "just a great group therapy. If we could get rid of all this hellfire and damnation stuff, it could be really useful." I really love that comment, because we were watching these people [at the Pentecostal services] in a state of complete release. You could do anything there. You could run around screaming gibberish and people would assume you were filled with the Holy Spirit. Which must have been amazing for people with difficult lives, whose religion requires them to control a lot of what they do, but it also gives them this moment of ecstatic release. And I kind of envied them. I could never get that loose unless I took acid or something.
______________________

I go back and forth on whether Marjoe really was a con man. After all, those people were paying for a show, and they sure got one.
There was a scene we had to cut where an artist friend of mine was painting a portrait of him and talking to him in a very motherly way, which was very disarming for Marjoe. He relied very much on women to be a soft presence for him. And she said to him, "Have you ever thought that maybe Jesus really is working through you?" And he really was disarmed by that. It took him by surprise, because as he says in the film, he just doesn't believe. And this was twisting everything one step further, suggesting that maybe you're being used by this thing you don't believe in.
______________________
All of the laughter, dancing, and shouting in religious services can be infectious. Did you feel anything while being in those churches?
Yes. Definitely. I was only in my early 20s then. I'm 67 now. I did go on to have my own spiritual experiences, and I do believe that spirit is all around, within you, without you. I think these people may very well be tapping into something real. And I think that religion offers them a way to it. But they couldn't imagine that there are other ways to have that experience, outside of the church.
_____________________
But when I bought the rights, I didn't know what I had. There was one print of the film, but it was so deteriorated, it was unusable. The sound was all fuzzy. I thought, I went through all of this and there's nothing! At the time [2002], I was also editing a documentary short in the building that we had Marjoe processed. And I was having a meeting with one of the guys at the lab and he says, "We're cleaning out the archives in our vault and are going to send everything to the Library of Congress." And I said, "Is there anything with the name Marjoe on it?" And he said yes, and it was everything. The negative, the trailers, the outtakes, everything—and it had been kept in perfect temperature control.
[source]

[nobspeople]

Has anyone else experienced these things?

I grew up in the 80s and attended a church where "God" was a two-syllable word. I've been to tent revivals.

If you'd been to any of these things, was it enjoyable or no?

I loved that stuff then and love it now. My sister-in-law's father-in-law is a Pentecostal preacher. He has a special "thumping Bible" (no joke) for his sermons. Before COVID, I went to church with them every chance I got.

Did they do any 'healings' or 'casting out' of demons?

Lots of tongues, "word of the Lord" prophecies, "slain in the spirit," and whatnot. I've been to one healing revival. No demons.

Are these traveling/tent revivals doing god's work, or are they pandering (aka a scam)?

It's a show, for sure. The revivals when I was younger were from so long ago and while I was a Christian myself, so I'm sure those memories is tainted, but I've seen my in-law² "practicing" and it's definitely a rehearsal. He's also a completely different person at home. I think he's an honest Christian, but I'm still not totally sure. He's got a weird vibe, like he gives them what they want and wears a thousand-dollar suit, but he has certain lines that he doesn't seem to cross. I've never seen him hit any of the conservative talking points like racism or homophobia, but he never speaks against them, either. It's like he recognizes that much of his congregation is on the toxic side of Christianity, but he's got a set of standards for himself. He'll toe the line, but stay just on the side of light. It's weird.

Anyone who's never seen it should watch Marjoe.

Thank you for this response.
It's quite reflective of my own experience in regards to the tent revivals, though I have no 'bible thumping' relatives fortunately. One is almost to that point, but she also considers herself the best mother, best grandmother, best nurse, best.... astronaut (probably) so there's that.