1857 Revival Begins

He set a date for businessmen to meet at noon for prayer on the third floor of the old church. The first meeting was 23 September 1857. Outside was a placard which read, ‘Prayer Meeting from 12 to 1 o’clock - stop 5, 10, or 20 minutes, or the whole hour as your time admits’. The tall, middle-aged evangelist duly climbed the creaky stairs to the third floor of the old church building in the heart of New York, sat down and waited.