26 June 1800 A.D. Mr. (Rev.) J.J. Janeway’s Resolve—Old School Presbyterian Piety

26 June 1800 A.D.  Mr. (Rev.)  J.J. Janeway’s Resolve—Old School Presbyterian Piety

Archivist. “June 26: J.J. Janeway’s Resolve.”  This Day in Presbyterian History. 26 Jun 2014.  http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/06/june-26-2/.  Accessed 26 Jun 2014. 

June 26: J. J. Janeway’s Resolve

A Desire to Effect a Reformation

The Rev. Jacob Jones Janeway [1774-1858] was an early Philadelphia pastor who served initially as an associate alongside the Rev. Ashbel Green. Rev. Janeway was also a close friend and supporter of the early Princeton Seminary faculty.

When the new year of 1800 opened, the Rev. J. J. Janeway was found on its threshold with a strong desire to “effect a reformation” in his heart and life. He wrote in his diary, “On examination, it is found that early rising, fervency in devotion, religious reflections in company, humility, courage, disinterested benevolence, and much engagedness are particularly worthy my attention in this reformation. May God enable me to reform. Amen.”

It was not a short-lived expectation or goal for Rev. Janeway. He persisted. On June 26th of that same year, he wrote in his diary:

“This day I spent in fasting and prayer for the blessing of Almighty God on my ministry. I have read the Scriptures; meditated and prayed. Confession of sins has been made. I have entreated God to bestow on me courage, wisdom, prudence, ardent piety, circumspection, a feeling sense of the importance of divine truth, compassion for the souls of men. I have prayed that I may propose divine truth with clearness, illustrate it with wisdom, and urge it with affection and energy; that I may be furnished for my work abundantly; that I may be a wise, faithful, able and successful minister of the Lord Jesus.”