History of Evangelicalism Timeline

(1730s–Present)

The history of Evangelicalism traces the development of Protestant movements centered on biblical authority, personal conversion, the cross of Christ, and active evangelism. More Less

Go to: Timeline | Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Reformation and Protestant roots

Luther’s Ninety-five Theses

Oct 31, 1517

Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses challenged the sale of indulgences and sparked a controversy that helped launch the Protestant Reformation. Evangelicals later regarded the Reformation’s emphasis on Scripture, justification by faith, and personal conversion as foundational to their tradition.

Publication of the English New Testament

1526

William Tyndale published the first English New Testament translated directly from Greek. Its wide circulation helped make biblical texts accessible to ordinary English readers and strongly influenced later Protestant and evangelical ideas.

Image source: Tyndale Bible

Geneva Bible published

1560

English Protestant exiles published the Geneva Bible, an influential translation with extensive theological notes. It became widely read among English-speaking Protestants and shaped Puritan and later evangelical biblical culture.

Image source: Geneva Bible

Puritan movement emerges

1560 - 1662

Puritanism developed within and alongside the Church of England, emphasizing disciplined worship, biblical preaching, moral reform, and personal assurance of salvation. Its spirituality contributed significantly to the formation of later evangelicalism.

Image source: Puritans

Rise of Pietism

1675 - 1740

German Pietism, associated especially with Philipp Jakob Spener, stressed personal regeneration, small-group Bible study, practical holiness, and active Christian service. These emphases became important channels through which evangelical spirituality spread.

Pilgrim’s Progress published

1678

John Bunyan published The Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegorical account of a believer’s journey from conversion toward salvation. The book became one of the most influential works of Protestant devotional literature.

Image source: The Pilgrim's Progress

Global expansion and missions

Moravian Church renewed

1727

A spiritual renewal at Herrnhut in 1727 energized the Moravian Church and produced an extensive missionary movement. Moravian missionaries influenced John Wesley and helped establish the evangelical pattern of linking conversion with global mission.

Image source: Moravian Church

Sunday school movement expands

1780 - 1850

Sunday schools spread rapidly in Britain and North America, teaching children literacy and Christian doctrine. Evangelicals used them as major institutions for religious education, outreach, and lay participation.

Image source: Sunday school

Baptist Missionary Society founded

1792

William Carey and associates founded the Baptist Missionary Society in England. The organization helped inaugurate the modern Protestant missionary movement and supported Bible translation, education, and church planting in India.

Image source: BMS World Mission

American Board expands Protestant missions

1810 - 1860

Founded in 1810, the American Board sent missionaries to Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific. It became a leading institution in the nineteenth-century expansion of American evangelical Protestantism.

Image source: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

American Bible Society founded

May 8, 1816

The American Bible Society was founded to distribute Bibles widely and affordably. Bible societies became central evangelical institutions, supporting literacy, evangelism, and translation across the United States and abroad.

Image source: American Bible Society

American Sunday School Union founded

1824

The American Sunday School Union coordinated evangelical educational work throughout the United States. It published teaching materials, established Sunday schools, and helped carry Protestant Christianity into expanding frontier communities.

Evangelical Alliance founded

Aug 19, 1846

The Evangelical Alliance was established in London to foster cooperation among evangelical Christians across denominational lines. It later developed into the World Evangelical Alliance, one of the major international evangelical networks.

Image source: World Evangelical Alliance

Student Volunteer Movement founded

1886 - 1945

The Student Volunteer Movement mobilized thousands of American and Canadian university students for overseas missions. Its motto, “the evangelization of the world in this generation,” helped make missions a defining feature of evangelical activism.

World Evangelical Alliance established

1951

The World Evangelical Alliance was formed as a global fellowship of evangelical churches, organizations, and individuals. It provided international representation and cooperation for a movement increasingly centered outside Europe and North America.

Evangelical growth in the Global South

1970 - 2020

From the late twentieth century, evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity grew rapidly in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia. Indigenous leadership, urbanization, transnational migration, and locally shaped forms of worship transformed global evangelicalism.

Image source: Christianity

Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization

Jul 16, 1974 - Jul 25, 1974

The First International Congress on World Evangelization met in Lausanne, Switzerland, bringing together evangelical leaders from around the world. The Lausanne Covenant articulated a broad vision combining evangelism, discipleship, and social responsibility.

Revival and evangelical movements

Evangelical Revival in Britain

1730 - 1800

The Evangelical Revival transformed British Protestantism through the ministries of Wesley, Whitefield, John Newton, Charles Simeon, and others. It promoted conversion, biblical preaching, personal holiness, and practical social reform.

Great Awakening begins in New England

1734 - 1742

A revival associated with Jonathan Edwards began in Northampton, Massachusetts, and spread through New England. It emphasized heartfelt conversion, renewed preaching, and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Image source: First Great Awakening

John Wesley’s conversion experience

May 24, 1738

John Wesley described a profound experience of assurance at a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. It strengthened his preaching ministry and became a major catalyst for the Methodist revival and wider eighteenth-century evangelicalism.

Image source: John Wesley

George Whitefield’s transatlantic preaching

1739 - 1770

George Whitefield preached across Britain and the American colonies to enormous crowds. His outdoor sermons, emotional appeals, and itinerant ministry made him one of the most influential leaders of the First Great Awakening.

Image source: George Whitefield

Methodist movement expands

1740 - 1791

John Wesley organized Methodist societies, classes, itinerant preaching circuits, and charitable ministries. Methodism carried evangelical preaching and disciplined Christian fellowship throughout Britain, Ireland, and North America.

Image source: Methodism

Clapham Sect campaigns for reform

1790 - 1830

The Clapham Sect, a network of Anglican evangelicals, supported abolition, education, prison reform, and other social causes. Its members demonstrated how evangelical convictions could motivate organized public action.

Second Great Awakening

1790 - 1840

The Second Great Awakening produced camp meetings, revival preaching, mass conversions, and new denominations across the United States. It also encouraged reform movements and expanded the role of ordinary laypeople in religious work.

Image source: Second Great Awakening

Charles Finney’s revival campaigns

1825 - 1835

Charles Grandison Finney popularized highly organized revival methods, including public invitations to conversion and the use of “anxious benches.” His theology and techniques profoundly influenced American revivalism.

Image source: Charles Grandison Finney

Holiness movement develops

1840 - 1900

The Holiness movement grew from Wesleyan teaching on sanctification and encouraged a distinct experience of Christian holiness. It generated conferences, missions, and denominations that helped prepare the way for Pentecostalism.

Image source: Holiness movement

Keswick Convention begins

1875

The first Keswick Convention in England promoted teachings on deeper Christian life, surrender, and practical holiness. Keswick spirituality influenced evangelical leaders and missionary movements around the world.

Modern evangelicalism

Pentecostal revival at Azusa Street

Apr 14, 1906 - 1915

The Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, led by William J. Seymour, became a major center of early Pentecostalism. Its emphasis on Spirit baptism, healing, and spiritual gifts helped launch a worldwide movement.

Image source: Azusa Street Revival

Fundamentalist–modernist controversy

1910 - 1930

The controversy divided many Protestant churches over biblical authority, miracles, evolution, and theological modernism. Conservatives organized around the defense of doctrines they considered fundamental to Christianity.

Image source: Fundamentalist–modernist controversy

National Association of Evangelicals founded

Apr 7, 1942

The National Association of Evangelicals was founded in the United States to unite conservative Protestants across denominational lines. It helped distinguish postwar evangelicalism from both fundamentalist separatism and theological liberalism.

Billy Graham’s Los Angeles crusade

Sep 25, 1949 - Nov 20, 1949

Billy Graham’s Los Angeles campaign brought him national attention and marked the beginning of his career as a leading mass evangelist. His preaching, use of modern media, and interdenominational partnerships shaped twentieth-century evangelicalism.

Image source: Billy Graham

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association founded

1950

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was established to support evangelistic preaching, radio and television broadcasts, publications, and global crusades. It became one of the most prominent evangelical organizations of the twentieth century.

Jesus movement spreads

1967 - 1973

The Jesus movement attracted many young people in North America through conversion, contemporary music, communal life, and street evangelism. It influenced Christian music, youth ministry, and the growth of charismatic evangelical churches.

Evangelicals for Social Action founded

1973

Evangelicals for Social Action emerged to encourage Christian engagement with poverty, justice, peace, and social responsibility. It represented a growing effort to broaden evangelical public witness beyond personal conversion alone.

Alpha course launched

1977

The Alpha course began at Holy Trinity Brompton in London as an introduction to Christian faith. Its informal meals, discussion groups, and accessible evangelistic format later spread through churches in many countries.

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability founded

1979

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability was created to establish standards for financial accountability among Christian ministries. Its formation reflected the increasing institutionalization and public scrutiny of American evangelical organizations.

Key Facts

Evangelicalism emerged from earlier Protestant traditions, especially Puritanism, Pietism, and eighteenth-century revival movements.
The First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s, led by figures such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards, helped shape transatlantic evangelical identity.
John Wesley and the Methodist revival emphasized personal conversion, disciplined Christian living, and outreach to ordinary people.
Nineteenth-century evangelicalism expanded through revivalism, Sunday schools, Bible societies, missionary organizations, and abolitionist activism.
Since the twentieth century, Evangelicalism has become a global and internally diverse movement, with major expressions in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Source

This History of Evangelicalism timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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