Baptist Heritage

Soon after his conversion which occurred during the great revival of 1800 Ashel determined to serve Christ on the mission field, but God planned other wise. He entered Yale in 1805 and graduated in 1809 as an ordinary student academically but he had an extraordinary passion for Christ and the lost.

After studying under Rev. Bezaleel Pinneo of Connecticut, he began his itinerant ministry. His work began during the time of the great excesses and divisions that were arising out of the great awakening. After studying the cause and effects of these numerous disorders, he set a sane course for himself and his ministry. From the beginning of his labors God crowned his preaching with glorious power, and revival after revival occurred. In 1817 he was ordained a congregational evangelist. He was himself one the wisest and most cautious itinerants ever to grace this nation. His theology was thoroughly in keeping with that of the godly men who had preceded him in the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches of the land.

Asahel Nettleton was a leading figure in one of the most important half-centuries in American Church history. From the late 1790s to the early 1840s a succession of revivals transformed the spiritual prospects of the nation.