Tag: altar call

Prior to the 19th century there was no such thing as an altar call. It might surprise many to know the church, even the American church, never used such a method. And yet, the American church experienced tremendous growth. But Finney wanted more. He wanted to see people saved immediately and sought to use the altar call (he called it the “anxious bench”) to create an emotional response from people. The unintended consequence, however, was to change the way Christians think about evangelism.