Getting to know the lesser-known Jeffreys

This month sees the publication of a new biography of Pentecostal pioneer Stephen Jeffreys, written by Elim’s first official historian, Desmond Cartwright, shortly before his death in 2012. Now carefully edited and prepared for publication by his son, former Elim General Superintendent Chris Cartwright, with a foreword by Malcolm Duncan, ‘The Revivalist’ tells a story that is both historically significant and spiritually timely.

At a moment when the church is once again seeking clarity, courage and confidence in the power of the gospel, Stephen Jeffreys’ life speaks with striking relevance. His story does more than inform us about the past; it strengthens our faith for what God may yet do in our own day through ordinary people who make themselves wholly available to him.

‘The Revivalist’ begins in revival in Wales. We follow a man of simple yet unwavering faith as he leaves his familiar life in a South Wales valley. Leaving his occupation as a miner, he steps into extraordinary adventures with Christ – first across the nation and then to the nations. The story concludes with a remarkable harvest of souls and a simple yet glorious homecoming.

Donald Gee described his ministry as “a flame of love”. At Stephen’s funeral, John Carter called him “a man who lived fully for God”. This is a story for everyone who hungers and thirsts for revival – for God to move again in us, in our churches and in our communities.

When the name “Jeffreys” is mentioned in Pentecostal circles, it is often George Jeffreys who comes to mind. Yet it was his elder brother Stephen who first stepped into a remarkable evangelistic ministry that helped shape British Pentecostalism in its earliest days. At times the brothers ministered powerfully together, though for most of their ministries they followed different paths.

Stephen was not a theologian, strategist or organiser. He was, in the truest sense, a revivalist – a man gripped by the conviction that the God of Scripture still saves, heals, baptises in the Holy Spirit and transforms lives.

His story is not simply that of a gifted preacher but of a man deeply marked by the Welsh Revival of 1904-05 and later by the Pentecostal outpouring that followed. These experiences forged in him an unshakeable belief that God was not finished with Britain.

Called from the coalface

For 25 years, Stephen Jeffreys worked underground in the coal mines of South Wales. It was dangerous and exhausting work. Like many miners, he lived with physical strain and economic uncertainty. Yet during those years something else was shaping him.

Converted during the Welsh Revival, Stephen became known locally as a man of deep prayer and spiritual earnestness. He had no formal training and often insisted he was “not a preacher”, merely someone testifying to what God had done in his own soul. But when he spoke, people listened. There was an authority that came not from education but from experience – an anointing unmistakably from the Holy Spirit.

In December 1912 his life changed decisively. Invited to preach in a small mission hall in Cwmtwrch over Christmas, he witnessed extraordinary scenes. Night after night, people were converted. Families were transformed. Hardened miners wept openly. The meetings quickly outgrew the building.

Stephen faced a crisis. If he stayed, he would lose his job. If he returned to the pit, the meetings would end. There could be only one answer. Much as he loved his co-workers, he left the mine, and his wife Elizabeth gave away his mining clothes. From that moment, Stephen Jeffreys devoted himself fully to the ministry of Christ rather than the coalface.

The vision at Llanelly

One of the most formative moments in Stephen’s ministry occurred not in a crowded campaign but during a Sunday evening service at Island Place Chapel in Llanelly, where he was pastor.

As Stephen preached, those present reported a vivid vision appearing on the wall behind him: Christ as the Man of Sorrows, wearing a crown of thorns. The vision reportedly remained for over six hours and was seen by many.

Appearing only months before the outbreak of the First World War, this experience deepened Stephen’s conviction of the urgency of the gospel. He conducted continual revival meetings for the next 18 months, during which more than a thousand people came to Christ.

His ministry embodied the “Four-square Gospel”, which would later become foundational within the Elim movement. Wherever he travelled, this was his message: a full salvation for the whole person.

Campaigns that shook towns

Stephen’s campaigns often began quietly and ended with towns and cities profoundly stirred.

In Grimsby in 1922, meetings moved from a house to a large public hall. At first, the small congregation seemed lost in the space. By the end, hundreds had professed faith, and when Stephen departed, crowds gathered at the railway station singing, “God be with you till we meet again.”

In Aberaman, over 300 people responded to the gospel in three weeks. Dowlais and Merthyr Tydfil witnessed similar scenes. Churches were established in many of these places that endured for generations.

One of the most remarkable campaigns took place at Horbury Chapel in Kensington, London. A struggling church was powerfully renewed as people flocked from across the city. These meetings anticipated a later move of God that would lead to the founding of Kensington Temple.

Igniting fires in Elim and the Assemblies of God

Stephen Jeffreys’ ministry spanned the early beginnings of two Pentecostal movements in the UK – Elim and the Assemblies of God. At different seasons he belonged to, and constructively influenced, both.

He served on the early Elim council and helped establish churches across Wales and England. At the same time, many churches birthed through his campaigns later joined the Assemblies of God when it formed in 1924. By then, dozens of Pentecostal assemblies in Wales traced their origins directly or indirectly to his ministry.

In 1925, Stephen held meetings in East London where thousands responded to Christ and many were healed. These campaigns led to the planting of Elim churches across East London, including Barking, Canning Town and Ilford (now City Gates).

Pastor Harold Afflu of City Gates Church reflects:

“Many churches, especially Elim churches in East London, owe a great debt to Stephen Jeffreys. As the pastor of one of those churches, his courageous gospel preaching with signs following still inspires us today. This honest, engaging biography stirs hunger for spiritual awakening and a renewed desire to exalt Christ boldly.”

Stephen’s gift was not organisation but ignition. He lit fires that others nurtured and developed. Through his ministry, a generation of young men and women came to Christ, many going on to serve in the emerging Pentecostal movement.

Notable converts included PS Brewster, the Gortons, Ted Cole and James Goreham. Converted at 18, Goreham went on to establish five Elim churches across the south of England before his death aged just 25.

Marked by the miraculous

Healings soon became associated with Stephen’s campaigns. They were rarely advertised and never central to his message. His emphasis was always repentance and salvation. Yet time and again, people were healed in response to prayer.

In Penybont, Radnorshire, Edith Carr had been confined to her home for nine months with a diseased foot which was to be amputated. The Jeffreys brothers visited her privately, prayed and anointed her with oil. She was healed instantly and walked to the meeting that same afternoon to play the piano.

Newspapers often reported such events. The ‘Barking Advertiser’ wrote: “Scenes probably without parallel in the history of the town are being witnessed in connection with Pastor Stephen Jeffreys’ revival campaign at the Baths Hall, Barking… Rather than diminishing, the interest is increasing…”

For Stephen, these were never spectacles. They were signs pointing to Christ’s compassion and power.

A worldwide ministry

Stephen’s ministry eventually took him far beyond Britain – to the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Europe. The pattern remained consistent: strong preaching on sin and salvation, deep prayer, a tangible sense of God’s presence and healings that bore witness to the Word proclaimed.

Despite the scale of his influence, he remained humble, avoided controversy and shunned publicity. Those who knew him remembered his gentleness and prayerfulness.

A legacy that endures

Stephen Jeffreys’ greatest legacy lies not in the crowds but in the churches planted and the people called into the ministry through his influence. He did not set out to build a movement – only to obey God. From small steps of faith came converts and churches that would train pastors, missionaries and evangelists who carried the marks of those early revival days.

His story reminds us that revival often begins not with prominence but with obedience; not with planning but with prayer; not with ability but with availability. From such small beginnings, God can still change towns, cities and communities.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.