Jock Troup & the Fishermen's Revival

The fascinating story of Scottish evangelist John “Jock” Troup (1896-1954) is told in this biographical documentary from filmmaker Gary Wilkinson. Born and raised in fishing villages during the boom years of Scotland's fishing industry, Troup became a master cooper (a builder of barrels)—a key job for exporting herring to the rest of the world. Enlisting in the Royal Navy Patrol Service during World War I, Troup had an "evangelical conversion" one night in Dublin in the company of a Christian couple who had invited him to tea. A changed man from that moment, Troup went uneasily back to his old life until he had a second conversion at a revival meeting in Glasgow, after which he joined forces with a traveling Baptist minister, and then began taking his formidable voice out into the street and to revival meetings throughout Scotland's fishing communities. A "Fishermen's Revival" was born, as word spread of Troup's charismatic preaching (sometimes praying while prostrate on the ground), and local meeting halls would swell with people wanting to hear him. Troup would run a revival center in Glasgow that also fed the poor during the Great Depression and gave support to troops during World War II. A variety of interviewees tell Troup's story, including historians, eyewitnesses who saw Troup preach, and Troup's daughter and grandson. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (T. Keogh)