This week in Christian history: Sweet Hour of Prayer published, Crystal Cathedral bankruptcy sale

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, September 11, 2022

Pioneering woman preacher dies – Sept. 16, 1924

Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844-1924), a woman known for her revival preaching and controversial healing ministry. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when Maria Woodworth-Etter, a woman who became known for her preaching and revival services, died at age 80.

Converted at age 13, Woodworth-Etter would not start a preaching ministry until age 35, beginning at a Quaker church and later becoming an itinerant evangelist.

“Over time, she gained courage and her efforts were crowned with enough success that nearby churches requested her as their pastor. She refused, for she felt her work must be as an itinerant evangelist,” noted the Christian History Institute.

“Her revival services became famed for the trances she experienced while under the power of the Spirit. Sinners would also fall into trances under conviction of sin. Thousands of people crowded her tent and many were saved.”

The Institute referred to Woodworth-Etter as “a precursor of Pentecostal evangelism” due to her “emphases on the role of the Holy Spirit, on women’s roles in evangelism, and on healing.”