[susie123]

More about Jeffreys and the crusades from the Liverpool web link in my previous post.

He and his colleagues founded the ‘Bethel Crusaders’ designed to link the young people in the crusades, giving them suitable training for aggressive evangelism.

The revival tide rolled on through the cotton towns of Lancashire and in many of them Bethel churches were formed.

During this time the ‘Bethel Full Gospel Messenger’ magazine was launched and Gospel caravans were purchased for rural missions and a Bible College and Missionary Training Centre was opened in Bristol in 1931.

Sadly in the midst of all this considerable growth problems were emerging. There were many critics and opposition was being received from local authorities. The main problem, however, concerned divisions within the Bethel Movement itself that came to a head in 1932. There was unease about Edward Jeffreys’ leadership style, doctrine and perceived lack of financial accountability which led to the resignation from the Society of the entire advisory board and 12 out of the 60 Bethel churches. The Society was never the same again.

In the following year (1933) there was further split when due to doctrinal differences over the Baptism of the Holy Spirit a number of people left the Bethel churches or took their churches out of the Bethel movement, many of them joining the Assemblies of God, or the Elim Pentecostal Church.

Edward Jeffreys, however, continued to hold crusades throughout the 1930’s mainly in the Merseyside and Lancashire areas and he planted several strong evangelical churches, which continue to this day.

By the end of the 1930’s, however, large-scale evangelistic crusades had begun to decline in popularity and success, with the Second World War now occupying the public’s time and attention.