The Making of a Leader: Charles Finney’s Early Years
By the time he was about fifteen or sixteen, he had learned enough to be the teacher of a one-room community schoolhouse. About this time, the Finneys moved again, to the wilderness skirting the shores of Henderson’s Bay on Lake Ontario near Sackets Harbor, New York. It appeared Oneida County was becoming too “civilized” for Sylvester Finney. Here, Charles Finney found a school looking for a master, and he accepted the post.
A Life of Adventure and Learning
Because of his love for music, the first thing he bought himself with his earnings was a cello. At six feet two inches, Charles was also an excellent athlete. His grandson later described this period of Charles’s life as follows: When he was twenty he excelled every man and boy he met, in every species of toil or sport. No man could throw him; no man could knock his hat off; no man could run faster, jump farther, leap higher or throw a ball with greater force and precision.
A Turning Point
Charles’s students adored him because he would participate in their sporting events and almost always championed the winning side. Since his family now lived by the water, Charles added rowing, swimming, and sailing to his list of skills. It was a clean, unfettered life for someone living on the frontiers-moral, but ignorant of God.
Off to Join the Navy
As the fledgling United States entered a second war with the British in 1812, Charles went to Sackets Harbor with the intention of enlisting in the navy, but when he arrived there, he heard more profanity than he had in his entire life. Also, the pretty, young prostitutes who accosted him did more to repel him than attract him. His grandson again related the story of one such encounter: He looked at her in wonder and when he comprehended the nature of her request, he was so overcome with pity for her…that his cheeks burned, and before he could check it he was shedding tears… She, moved to shame, wept too.
A Change of Plans
It was an incident he would remember even fifty-five years later, when he spoke with anguish of his regret that he was not able to offer the young woman God’s grace since he himself did not know the Lord at the time. Because this atmosphere so offended Charles, he chose not to join the navy, instead returning to Connecticut where he had been born. Eventually, he went to a town in New Jersey not far from New York City, where he resumed teaching in a schoolhouse and studying. He acquired a limited knowledge of Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, though he himself admitted,
To Be Continued…
Tale Tuesday 063
Date: 7th November, 2023
Title: : Charles Finney – The Father of Modern Revivalism(part 2)
Source: The Azusa Street Revival
Author: Roberts Liardon
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