Henry Alline

1748-1784. Leader of the Great Awakening* in Nova Scotia. Born in Rhode Island, he received little formal education. In 1775 he underwent an unusually powerful conversion experience which gave him a new sense of wholeness. At once he sensed a call to become a preacher of the Gospel. Initially hindered by his lack of theological education, a second moving experience gave him the conviction that he “needed nothing to qualify me but Christ.” He began preaching as he wandered through the countryside and started the revival which became known as the “New Light” movement. He was considered a fanatic and destroyer by many in the established denominations, but he indirectly fostered the growth of the Baptist churches in Nova Scotia. He wrote hymns, a journal of the revival, and Two Mites Cast Into the Offering of God for the Benefit of Mankind (1804).