Biography
Howell Harris was born on January 23, 1714, in Trevecka, near Talgarth in Breconshire, Wales. His father was a carpenter and a small farmer, and the family was respectable. He was the youngest of several children. He was educated at the local grammar school and prepared to become a clergyman. He was a quick, restless boy, with a love of pleasure. At the age of twenty, he was a schoolteacher in his native village and had no deep concern for religion.
In March 1735, he was moved by a sermon at his parish church in Talgarth. The vicar urged those who intended to receive communion on Palm Sunday to prepare. He felt the stab of conviction and began to seek God. He spent weeks in distress over his sins. On Whitsunday, May 25, 1735, as he knelt at communion, he was overwhelmed with the sense that his sins were forgiven. He said that he felt the love of God poured into his heart. From that day, he was a changed man, and he gave himself to the work of telling others.
He began to speak to his neighbors, first in the houses of the village and then in larger gatherings. He went from house to house and from parish to parish, calling people to repent. He had no ordination and was refused it by the bishop. He took the name of an exhorter and worked tirelessly. He traveled across Wales, covering hundreds of miles on foot or on horseback. He preached in the open air, in barns and at fairs. He formed the converts into small societies, which met for prayer and mutual care. By 1739, there were a number of these societies in Wales, and the movement was known as Methodism.
He met Daniel Rowland, a clergyman in Cardiganshire, who was the leader of a similar awakening in the west of Wales. The two men became the leaders of the Welsh Methodist movement. He also formed a friendship with George Whitefield, who encouraged him, and with the Wesleys. In 1743 the first association of the Calvinistic Methodists was formed, under Whitefield's presidency, and Harris served as an organizer. He had a strong gift for administration and kept the work together.
In 1752 he settled at Trevecka and began a community known as the Family. It was a kind of religious settlement in which men and women lived together and worked. It included a farm, workshops and a school. Hundreds of people lived there at the height of its life, and it was an unusual experiment. He ran it with strict authority. He also was a man of fierce temperament. He quarreled with Rowland, with Whitefield and with others over matters of doctrine and of control. In the 1750s, he fell out with the leaders of the movement and withdrew for a period.
His weaknesses were serious. He had a tendency to be overbearing, and he fell under the influence of a woman called Madam Sidney Griffith, who claimed prophetic powers, and this led to a scandal that cost him much. His reputation was damaged and he suffered a breakdown. In later years, he was reconciled with many of his old friends and gave himself again to preaching.
He died on July 21, 1773, at Trevecka. His funeral was attended by thousands. His influence on Wales was great. He was among the first to see that the awakening of the soul requires organization and care, and he showed what energy and zeal can do. His life also reveals the dangers of pride and of strong will.