New exhibit features Brunk revivals

The Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, will hold a celebration and service of dedication for the Brunk Revivals exhibit on Saturday, May 24, 2014, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

The exhibit commemorates the evangelistic campaigns of the Brunk family from 1951 to 1981. The celebration will include a time for browsing the exhibit and memorabilia on display, a time of reminiscing and singing from the revival songbook and a service of dedication featuring Dr. Myron S. Augsburger as guest speaker.

George R. Brunk II and his brother Lawrence first got the vision for tent revivals while returning from attending a tent meeting. Lawrence sold his successful poultry business to buy a tent and equipment. The brothers decided that he would be the song leader and equipment manager while George would be the evangelist. Thus began the Brunk Brothers Tent Revivals.

The first campaign was held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on the night of June 8, 1951. The meetings attracted such large crowds that the site and the tent had to be moved to accommodate the crowds. Because of the revival that swept the area, the meetings went for seven weeks, closing on July 22 with an estimated attendance of 15,000 on the final night.

At the next location in Souderton, Pennsylvania, three tents were erected, one large, one medium, and one small to accommodate the large crowds. Farmers would complete their chores late in the afternoon so they and their families could attend the meetings. Many would attend every night, and would drive large distances to do so.

For the next two years, meetings were held in numerous states as well as in Ontario, Canada. In the fall of 1953, Lawrence left the organization, and for the next twenty-seven years, George led the campaigns known as Brunk Revivals, Inc., throughout the United States as well as in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.  

The fleet included four trailer trucks and three house trailers. The Brunk family traveled with the campaigns during the summer, and all seven lived in a 36’ x 8’ house trailer. In the fall, Mrs. Brunk and the children would return to Harrisonburg, Virginia, for the school year. George’s son, Gerald, led the singing and did the bookkeeping while son, George III, managed the equipment.

Prior to each campaign, the local churches would organize planning committees and special prayer meetings. On the Saturday before the campaign would begin, local persons would come to help erect the tent and set out the chairs. On the Monday after the last meeting, they would help to dismantle the tent and load the trailer trucks in preparation for the journey to the next location.

People across the United States and Canada have many fond memories of the Brunk Revival meetings. John L. Horst, a college student and member of the Mennonite Hour Quartet, which was touring Canada at the time, remembers the quartet being invited to sing at the July 11, 1958 evangelistic campaign in Abbotsford, B.C. “The total service lasted about two hours, with Brother George’s dramatic sermon being nearly an hour. I was sitting just about 8 feet behind him on the trailer stage. The sermon was a memorable experience. His stage presence and use of the microphone stand sent his voice reverberating though the tent. Interesting stories kept us in rapt attention. It was also a memorable experience for a nineteen-year-old to sing for such a large audience.”

The Brunk Revivals exhibit is housed in one of the original trailer trucks that were used to haul tents and equipment to the various campaign sites. The exhibit includes a video, photographs, revival artifacts, and a scrapbook of articles and photographs from each of the 109 revival meetings. The Brunk family created the informative exhibit and donated it to the Heritage Center’s permanent collection.

The exhibit is now part of the Heritage Center tour and can be viewed during the Center’s open hours Wednesday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center exists to share the history and faith of Mennonite and Brethren groups in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The center is located at 1921 Heritage Center Way in Harrisonburg, Virginia. For more information, visit www.vbmhc.org or call (540) 438-1275.

—Posted May 13, 2014