It had been a long journey through the forest and hills of Kentucky just to make it to the log cabin church in Cane Ridge yet tens of thousands found the outcome to be well worth the effort. Barton Stone, the pastor at the Presbyterian Church there, had sent word far and wide inviting everyone to come "camp on the grounds" during their first annual communion service. He promised it would be, "one of the greatest meetings of its kind ever known." It didn't disappoint.
By Saturday afternoon it was estimated that more than 25,000 people had descended upon the fields surrounding the church. Stone had expected thousands, but this was more than he could have imagined. It was immediately apparent that the covered platform he had constructed outside the church would not suffice for so many. So Stone dispatched seven separate ministers into the fields to contend for a harvest among the people. Stumps, carriages, and fallen trees became platforms for preachers as they ministered to different sections of the multitude simultaneously.
