Brief
Biography
Daniel Rowland
(1713-1790)
Daniel Rowland was ordained a minister of the Anglican
church in March 1734, but like many other ministers both before and since, he
did not know God. Rowland became a curate in the church but instead of teaching
the people the word of God he preferred to take part in sporting activities. It
was not long after his ordination that he noticed that a number of his Sunday
morning congregation were in the habit of missing his sermons to go and hear
the local dissenting minister. Eventually, Daniel Rowland started to go and
listen to these dissenting preachers to see what it was that attracted people
to their preaching.
One day while listening to Griffith Jones of
Llanddowrer, Jones saw Rowland in the congregation and stopped his sermon and
prayed specifically for him. It was with this prayer that Daniel Rowland felt
the start of a work of God in his soul. After his conversion Daniel Rowland
continued as a curate in Llangeitho in South Wales but now he was preaching
what he really believed, and people were coming to a personal faith in Jesus
Christ.
Up until this time Rowland's influence had been confined to his
local area but one day he was asked to preach in the village of Ystrad-ffin. He
started preaching there on a regular basis, and then he began preaching
throughout South Wales. All of these activities did not escape the notice of
the church of England bishops and finally in 1763 the Bishop of St David's
expelled Rowland from his curacy. The reason for this expulsion was simply that
he insisted on preaching outside his designated parish. There were very few
true Christian preachers in that area and Rowland felt compelled to tell the
gospel rather than leave them in spiritual ignorance.
When Daniel Rowland
was forced to leave the Church of England his congregation left with him and
built him a new chapel a short distance away. It was from this chapel that
Rowland was to pastor for the remaining years of his life, however he continued
to exercise an extensive ministry throughout South Wales. He was also a fine
Biblical theologian and was often resorted to to resolve questions or disputes
within the ranks of the Calvinistic methodists in Wales. Rowland died in
October 1790, and today his work is not as widely known as it should be,
especially as his ministry was conducted entirely in Welsh and was therefore in
accessible to English speakers.
Useful
Links
http://website.lineone.net/~gospeldefenders/gdefenders/rowlandbiog.html
The Rowland resource
http://www.red4.co.uk/Folklore/trevelyan/glimpse/noncomformists.htm
Nonconformist preachers of Wales
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0809969.html
Calvinistic Methodist churches.