The Spirit fell upon us

The Evangelical Movement of Wales came into being through an exceptional manifestation of God's saving grace and his overruling providence.
The Spirit of God moved powerfully in the University College of North Wales, Bangor, between 1947 and 1949. One of the men converted was J. Elwyn Davies, a theological student and a zealous Student Christian Movement (SCM) worker. He became the leader of the converted students at Bangor. Another student, Herbert Evans, had been converted in 1941, and the basis of a lifelong friendship was formed between the two during these years in Bangor.
Arthur Pritchard was a theological student at Aberystwyth, and met with Elwyn Davies, Herbert Evans, and new converts from outside of the colleges, in a retreat at Dolgellau, Meirionethshire, during the first weekend in January 1948. They met mainly to prepare for an evangelistic campaign at Bala during Easter that year.

The Spirit at Dolgellau

There were 26 people at the retreat: students, teachers, farmers and at least one person still in school. The theme of the meetings was justification and sanctification. There was a hardness in the meetings during Friday and Saturday morning, but after two people had confessed that they were hindering the work of God, greater freedom was enjoyed. The speaker, Arthur Pritchard, was given an assurance that God was going to bless them and the same assurance was given to others at the retreat.
On Monday morning, God met with the company in a wonderful way. Elwyn Davies was leading the prayer meeting. As he spoke on Luke 11.13, he was filled by the Holy Spirit and overwhelmed by a sense of God's love. Arthur Pritchard gave the address and the group met for prayer. As they prayed, the Spirit fell on the whole company and they knew that they were experiencing the manifest presence of God, which is so real in times of revival.

Many conversions

The retreat at Dolgellau created a spirit of unity among the believers and a burden to make the gospel known to others, especially in spiritually barren North Wales. They had been prepared for the mission at Bala, and during that week, God met with them, the people of the town and surrounding districts. The campaign brought forth much fruit, many conversions, led to other campaigns and the formation of a local fellowship for believers, which led to the formation of many others like it and the launching of a magazine. One of the missions was held at Trevor, Caernarvonshire, where the leaders established a friendship with Emyr Roberts, a Calvinistic Methodist minister converted in 1948 after spending a number of years in the Christian ministry. His conversion gave the movement another leader.

The magazine

It was the magazine ('Y Cylchgrawn Efengylaidd') that gave the believers their identity. The first issue appeared in December 1948. It aimed to make known the evangelical faith based on the Word of God, help others to come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and promote the spiritual lives of believers.
The leading article was written by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was taking a keen interest in what was happening in Wales. He had been informed of what had happened at Dolgellau, and during a mission at Bangor in January 1949, had discussed with Elwyn Davies significant religious developments in Wales.
In the leading article, the minister of Westminster Chapel, London, discussed the 'Evangelical faith', giving his reasons for doing so: the importance of defining the term 'evangelical', the need to 'understand our past', and the current ecumenical developments.
A number of magazine supporters met at the National Eisteddfod at Dolgellau in 1949. They included believers from South Wales who were the fruit of the missions held by the InterVarsity Fellowship (now UCCF) from 1944 to 1948 (see Geraint D. Fielder, Excuse me, Mr. Davies Hallelujah, pp.112-123). A tent was set up to sell the magazine and there was an opportunity to witness to the gospel. A feature of the week was the meeting held in a local chapel where members of the team took part and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones spoke on Philippians 4.4. Many of the Dolgellau people were at the first Welsh language conference at Bala in 1952. Here again, north and south Wales were brought together.

The Movement

There is no doubt that the year 1955 was very significant in the early development of the work. The name 'Evangelical Movement of Wales' was adopted, rules for fellowships were drawn up, a doctrinal basis was accepted, and Emily Roberts, who had been working for the magazine, was appointed as a sister with the Forward Movement (Presbyterian Church of Wales). Two other matters must be mentioned. In the same year, Elwyn Davies accepted an invitation to be a travelling secretary with the InterVarsity Fellowship, combining that work with leading the Evangelical Movement of Wales. He became secretary of the Movement, and with great wisdom and untiring zeal, was mainly responsible for determining its development. He retired as secretary in 1990. An English language magazine was also launched, edited by Elwyn Davies and Glyn Owen (now in Toronto, Canada). The first English language conference was held at Sandfields, Aberavon, when Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the main speaker.
Further steps were taken to confirm the evangelical witness in Wales. It was crucial to provide the people with good literature and a few items were published during 1956. An evangelical ministers' fellowship already existed, but in 1957 this came under the auspices of the Evangelical Movement of Wales. Permanent centres were needed as homes for camps and conferences. In his providence, God led the Movement to Bryn-y-groes in North Wales and to Bryntirion in South Wales. The Movement's offices and a bookshop are also located at Bryntirion.

Two languages

During the 1960s the doctrine of the church was often discussed. The Ecumenical Movement was making headway, while some denominations were considering the possibility of uniting. The Evangelical Movement of Wales took a clear stand against ecumenicity as expressed in the various plans for unity. Meetings were held and two booklets were published on different aspects of the doctrine of the church.
During the same decade, a few churches came out of the historic denominations and formed independent evangelical churches. The Movement, however, encourages seceders and those of like faith within the denominations to maintain unity. In the 1980s, some independent evangelical churches formed the Associating Evangelical Churches of Wales, and both the Movement and AECW are members of the British Evangelical Council.
During the early years, the Evangelical Movement of Wales was a purely Welsh language movement, but with the growth of the English work, a policy of bilingualism has been adopted. So there are English and Welsh conferences and camps, and a theological course in both languages. The Bryntirion Press also considers carefully the balance between the production of Welsh and English books.

Clearly evangelical

From 1952, camps and conferences have been a feature of the Movement's activities. About 950 youngsters now come to the camps and about 1,500 attend the English conference at Aberystwyth.

The Movement aims to:

1. promote the true and faithful witness to the fundamental truths of the Christian faith (outlined in a Doctrinal Statement).
2. Bring others to a personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and to encourage them to live a godly life.
3. Foster evangelism, experimental religion and a concern for revival.
4. Provide means for uniting and co-ordinating the witness and fellowship of evangelical churches, fellowships and individuals.

The Movement has endeavoured to be balanced in its doctrine and outlook, avoiding the temptation to emphasise one truth at the expense of others. When Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote the leading article in the first issue of the Welsh magazine in 1948, evangelicalism was under a cloud in Wales, but today it is not. The scene, however, is much more complex and the need to be clear on the term 'evangelical' is greater than ever before.