Our Trip to the Cane Ridge Meeting House

As Caleb and I walked up the drive towards the Cane Ridge Meeting House, the words of Psalm 46:10 resonated strongly within me. "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,  I will be exalted in the earth!" (ESV). Perhaps it was the stillness of nature around us or the excitement of being at such an important historical location, but in the silence, I felt God's peace. 

April the 13th (yesterday) was our four year anniversary and we decided to celebrate it here. Since we owe so much of our happiness to God, it only felt appropriate to honor Him by going to a place that would serve us as a reminder of His love and presence in our daily lives.

The Cane Ridge Meeting House was the location of a huge revival in 1801. Over 20,000 people traveled to what then was a church to participate in a huge event where they would listen to ministers speak the Word of God. At this event, many claimed to have had supernatural experiences, some stating that uncontrollable laughter and trance-like states were a product of the Holy Spirit's intervention in their life. Supernatural experiences aside, the Cane Ridge Meeting House is seen as a very important historical location in regards to the Restoration Movement.

I've been apart of Restoration Movement-affiliated churches ever since I was born. I even took a class that taught the history of the American Restoration Movement (if you wonder what this movement is, I may be posting a blog on it soon, so tune in for that!!). I'd heard the teachings many times over and practically memorized them. However, before stepping onto the grounds of Cane Ridge, I never truly realized how blessed I was to be exposed to a church that emphasized the truth of the Word of God.

The first location that we explored on the grounds was the Barton Warren Stone Museum (some areas in the museum are pictured below). The museum is filled with many historical books, pictures, and memorabilia from the Restoration Movement. There was an extensive area dedicated to materials relating to Barton W. Stone (since he was the first minister of the Cane Ridge Church), and other areas that held letters, medallions, and books connected to Alexander and Thomas Campbell.

I was so awed by the sheer amount of material that the small building contained. The object that made the largest impression on me was the letter Barton W. Stone wrote concerning slavery in the Americas. In this letter, he expressed his extreme disapproval of slavery. This letter was written around the 1780s or 1790s - at least seventy years before slavery was abolished in America! To me, seeing and reading the letter shows that Christians were fighting injustice in the world years before it was mainstream to do so. 

We then walked a few yards to the actual meeting house. The meeting house was definitely the most beautiful structure on the grounds. Back in the 1950s, they built a stone structure (see the first picture on this post) around the original log cabin church in order to protect it. It cost almost $1,000,000 in today's money to build. Boy, does it show! Each stained-glass window has artwork of Barton W. Stone and other church leaders on it.

Outside of the log-cabin structure, there was a pole that stated: "Pray for peace" in several different languages. Attached to the pole was a notebook that contained the prayers of others who had prayed for peace before. Before entering the meeting house, I paused to write my prayer down in the notebook. I prayed for peace for Christian colleges, the Christian Church as a whole, as well as America. After this prayer, Caleb and I entered the Cane Ridge Meeting House (the outside of it is pictured to the left). 

The Cane Ridge Meeting House was built in 1791, a year before Kentucky was made a state in the USA! When we walked in, we could tell that the wood was extremely old, as it creaked every few seconds. The inside of the meeting house was cozy, rustic, and all around beautiful. Caleb even stood at the pulpit that the ministers of the church once preached at. As we stood within the walls of the former church, we felt peace. 

Since the grave of Barton W. Stone was located on the grounds, we decided to stop by his grave to pay our respects. All around, Caleb and I absolutely enjoyed our trip to the Cane Ridge Meeting House. It served as an excellent place to focus and meditate on God's plan for our lives and His love for us. Reading the stories of the church leaders who came before us was both an exciting and humbling experience. It shows that God's work is never truly done. He has a plan for each one of us. Whether we are called to be a Reformer (like men like Barton W. Stone were) or to perform little acts of kindness to others, we all have a calling to make a difference in the world for Christ.

I urge you to find a place this week to enjoy the presence of God in. It could be your bedroom, in your car at a stoplight, or as you close your eyes before going to sleep at night. Remember the words that Christ has spoken to us through His Word. Remember God's desire for unity in the Church and in our daily lives. As the verse below calls us, pray that God would enable you to answer that call to the best of your ability.

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:12-17 (ESV)

Love,

Jennifer xo