Location of the Revival
Introduction: Pastor Steve Gray
After twelve years of pastoring Smithton Community Church, a congregation in a town with a population of 532, Pastor Steve Gray had a reason to consider himself successful, with the attendance growing from 13 people when he began, to around 180. Gray had been preaching and teaching about revival for years, yet corporate revival had not materialized. From all outward appearance, things in the church seemed to be going well, yet revival was elusive, just beyond the reach of their fingertips.
Smithton, Missouri (population – 532)
In addition to the elusive revival he had been preaching and teaching about for years, telling that it would happen, he found himself broken, being burdened down due to the stress of bitter criticism and rejection of those who had been close friends. At the end of his ability to go on, he decided he needed to leave alone for two weeks, and he decided to go to the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida, as an excuse for his absence.
Steve Gray did not go to Pensacola filled with hope that he would experience revival, bring it back to his congregation, and fulfill what he had been praying for; he went merely to get away. He was getting away for his own survival—a totally broken man.
Steve and Kathy Gray
Extraordinary Prayer
Toward the end of Gray’s two weeks in Pensacola, his congregation in Smithton was going through intense soul-searching. They were crying out to God for revival, but their attitude was bordering on despair. Their attitude was similar to,
Why would God send revival to other locations, yet overlook us, we who have been passionately anticipating revival?
While in Pensacola, Gray telephoned his wife, Kathy, and told her that he had just experienced the best church service ever. Kathy relayed that information to the congregation during a prayer meeting on Tuesday night, March 19, 1996, expecting it to stir up faith and hope for revival to come to their congregation, but it had the opposite effect.
An elder followed Gray’s wife to the microphone and said something like,
If we don’t have the true presence of God in our own church, we might as well shut this place down.
Men and women then came to the altar with bitter weeping, crying out,
God what’s wrong with us? Why does revival come to others and not us? God help us!
Even with the reports of the glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit on other congregations, the Smithton congregation had no life. They were experiencing death.
Smithton Community Church, Smithton, Missouri
Prophecy Foretelling Revival’s Approach
On Wednesday night, March 20, 1996, children began to prophesy to the congregation. Some spoke of God’s goodness and grace. Some spoke of His holiness. One 5-year-old girl pointed to the sky and said,
It’s coming, it’s coming! I know it’s coming!
Building Anticipation
In Pastor Steve Gray’s absence, his wife had been filling the pulpit, and on Sunday morning, March 24, 1996, she finished a series of sermons titled: “The Holy Spirit of Promise.” Through that series of sermons, she encouraged the congregation to worship to break through the darkness in their life and break into the presence of God.
During this time God had done a deep work in the congregation’s hearts, as well as in Pastor Steve Gray’s heart when he was in Pensacola.
On Gray’s drive back to his home on March 24, he called his wife and said he would be late for the evening service, and he didn’t know if revival would break out that night or not, but he knew that a huge change was going to take place.
Location of the Brownsville Revival, where Steve Gray was visiting.
What Happened
With the Sunday night service having already started on March 24, Steve Gray finally arrived, entered the sanctuary at 6:12 PM, walked over to give his wife Kathy a hug, and suddenly he was hit with the power of God like a lightning bolt from heaven. Gray began to jump, shout, and twirl, and the congregation quickly rushed to the front and was ignited with that same fire from heaven.
Joy filled the congregation, as the much-anticipated reviving had appeared. Weeping, embracing, and unity were consuming all who were present. As in all revivals, when the presence of God is experienced at this level, nobody wanted to leave.
As Pastor Gray began praying for people, they were filled with tremendous power and many were overwhelmed. The service went late that night, and they decided to return the following night for prayer, not knowing what else to do.
Hundreds throughout the United States and world came to experience the revival.
The following evening the presence of God was experienced again, and Gray continued holding services nightly. As those from other congregations heard about what was going on, they also began attending the evening services.
By week three of the nightly services, after those in the congregation had their hardened hearts softened and lives transformed, they were then able to minister to the others who were coming in from other churches.
At week eleven of the revival, the church was packed, and the services were moved to the gymnasium, and it wasn’t long until that building was also filled. People then began arriving from across the nation and around the globe.
Parking at Smithton Community Church
Results of the Revival
► The fire and power of God began to flow to other churches across the nation and world.
► Over 250,000 people attended the revival, from every state in the USA.
► The revival touched the world, as thousands of pastors and church leaders came, from over 60 nations, seeking to carry the fire back to their own churches.
► The tangible presence of God was unmistakable.
► Demonized people were frequently manifesting and subsequently delivered.
► The awareness of sinfulness became manifest, and people were responding to altar calls, broken under great conviction.
► The congregation grew from 180 to 300 people (in a town with a population of 532).
► Congregational members rose to the challenge and filled positions of service required to conduct 5 nightly services per week for several years.
► Thousands of individual lives were touched and changed by the power of God.
► A multitude of healings and miracles were recorded.
► As with all revivals, new songs were written, and albums recorded. The first was recorded by Integrity Hosanna and released in August 1999, called, “The Smithton Outpouring – Revival from the Heartland.”
► Religious traditions were torn down and man-made limitations removed.
► The Revival Training Center was started on September 11, 2000, to train students in a wide range of ministry roles.
► The typical manifestations that have been common during revivals were also present at Smithton:
- Violent shaking, sometimes continuing for days, and even weeks.
- Falling out, being overcome by the power of God. Some people were so overcome that they would have to be carried out of the services, being unable to walk on their own.
- Intense weeping due to repentance, followed by rejoicing and feelings of euphoria with the awareness that sins had been forgiven.
- Being frozen in place, not being able to move or change position without someone assisting them.
Steve and Kathy Gray appearing on Sid Roth’s “It’s Supernatural“
Appearance of News Media
By March of 1997 some of the major news outlets began reporting on the revival. Some of these were The 700 Club, CBN, Charisma Magazine, Sid Roth’s program “It’s Supernatural,” Newsweek, and Christianity Today. There were also reporters from other nations that came to write stories.
Traveling to Spread the Revival
Steve Gray and a team would frequently travel to other locations throughout the nation and world, taking the revival message and spreading it to other locations.
Enhanced Power with Prayer Ministry
Prior to the revival, people had been in counseling for years with little change. After the revival, there was immediate change as things left people, some testifying that they actually would feel things being drawn out of them through the power of prayer.
Focus of the Revival
The Smithton Outpouring wasn’t known for its powerful evangelistic success. It was noted as being the vehicle for revival and reformation for the worldwide church. Its message was about having a pure devotion to Christ with intense loyalty and total commitment.
Smithton Outpouring
Key to Revival at Smithton
The following are a few of the keys that Steve Gray said paved the way for revival:
- Desperation on the part of church leadership and congregation. Knowing that revival doesn’t come by happenstance. It comes due to the willing participation of those who are hungry for it.
- Congregationally, the willingness to wipe the church calendar clean for whatever God wanted.
- Individually, the willingness to set aside personal hobbies and interests for whatever God wanted.
- Doctrinally, not to allow religious doctrines or methods to hinder what God wanted to do.
- Holiness, to empty self of all that grieved the Holy Spirit.
Revival Fires Dying Out
By the fourth year after the start of the revival, the Smithton Outpouring had reached a pinnacle of what it could be in the town of Smithton. There then began to emerge disturbances that threatened the revival’s continuation:
- The community wanted their small town returned to what it had been, without the continual traffic and noise coming from the church.
- Some in the church wanted to go back to the way things were before the revival, with a slower and less activity-filled pace. They wanted the personal attention from their pastor that they had enjoyed when the congregation was much smaller.
- Bitter criticism and strife began to develop within some of the workers and leaders of the revival.
Preserving the Revival
World Revival Church in Kansas City, MO
With the ending of the revival looming, Gray knew that the only way to keep it from dying a slow death was to make a major transition, and that involved moving the revival from Smithton, Missouri, to Kansas City, and with the transition came the name of the newly founded church – World Revival Church.
World Revival Church in Kansas City, MO
Tent that services were held in while waiting for their permanent structure to be completed (Kansas City).
In November 1999 the services known as the Smithton Outpouring were shut down, and out of obedience, Gray moved, along with about 90% of the congregation (80 families) to Kansas City. They temporarily met in other facilities, and eventually held services in a tent on 62 acres of land while their current facility was being constructed. Services in that building’s foyer took place on January 5, 2001, with the revival fires still burning, just as they were at the Smithton Community Church.
World Revival Church Today – With Revival Fire Still Burning
Sources
► I Saw the Smithton Outpouring by Ron McGatlin
► Go Inside the Smithton Outpouring by New Day Pictures International, Inc.
► Pour Down from the Skies: by Steve Gray
► Revival in Brownsville by Steve Rabey
► Smithton Outpouring, with Steve & Kathy Gray: Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural!
► Ten Years of Revival: YouTube Video
► When the Kingdom Comes by Steve Gray
Return to List of Revival Stories
Chet & Phyllis Swearingen
(260) 920-8248
romans1015@outlook.com
Beautiful Feet
P.O. Box 915
Auburn, IN 46706
