Christopher Stamp became a General Conference evangelist around 1904, and the Stamps’ speaking engagements garnered media attention wherever they went. While Christopher was the official General Conference evangelist, Blanche often preached alongside him. The advertisement at the start of this article serves as a prime example of how the Stamps’ revival services were promoted. When the couple was preaching in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1910, the local Free Methodist Church published an outline of their revival services in The Lawrence Daily World. Although this particular engagement was part of the quarterly conference meeting, it still reflects a typical overview of their topics and the way they conducted their services.

Friday

• 9:30 a.m. Lovefeast
• 10:30 a.m. “Some Bible Characters Who Professed Experience” – Mrs. Blanche Stamp
• 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Other Free Methodist preachers
• 4:15 p.m. Children’s Meeting – Mrs. Blanche Stamp
• 7:15 p.m. Sermon – C.W. Stamp

Saturday

• 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Quarterly Conference Meeting
• 2:15 p.m. Rev. J. Meyers and S.V. Cole
• 3:00 p.m. Practical Holiness – C.W. Stamp
• 7:30 p.m. Sermon – Mrs. Blanche Stamp

Sunday

• 9:30 a.m. Lovefeast
• 11:00 a.m. Sermon – C.W. Stamp
• 12:00 p.m. Communion
• 2:45 p.m. Sermon on the Interests of Foreign Missions
• 7:30 p.m. Sermon – C.W. Stamp

The Stamps: A Powerful Preaching Duo

The Stamps typically rotated their speaking engagements, with both preaching in the evening at least once during their visits. Blanche often preached on foreign missions, and eventually, their daughter Ada became a licensed evangelist. Both Ada and her sister Ruby frequently traveled with them, as noted in a 1913 report to The Free Methodist.

Newspaper accounts highlight Blanche and Christopher Stamp’s rhetorical abilities, describing them as exceptionally powerful preachers. A front-page announcement in The LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel on March 29, 1912, called both Christopher and Blanche “highly recommended by the pulpit and press,” inviting community members to attend their revival meetings at the local Free Methodist Church. In a December 14, 1912, article in The Rock Island Argus, Blanche was referred to as a “speaker of rare ability.” The Kittanning Pennsylvania Simpsons Daily Leader Times noted in a 1921 article that Christopher, as “a preacher and platform orator, has few equals, no superiors,” and highlighted his preaching not only across the United States but also in Europe.

Commitment and Sacrifice in Ministry

For couples like the Stamps, commitment to ministry often required sacrifices. In their case, their two youngest daughters boarded at Chili Seminary while their parents traveled the country preaching. Their partnership in both life and ministry emerged during a time of rising anti-suffrage rhetoric in the United States. Even within Free Methodism, The Free Methodist began featuring opinions from noted anti-suffragists and denominational members who believed a woman’s highest calling was to her children and raising a godly family.

Blanche, however, chose a different path, and Christopher supported her endeavors. Their popularity illustrates the rhetorical tension present in Free Methodism since its inception. Supporters of the progressive social gospel, like the Stamps, believed women were equally capable, called, and biblically justified to preach. In contrast, figures like Wilson Hogue embraced premillennialist theology, aligning with anti-suffrage rhetoric that maintained women were inherently different from men and not biblically justified to become ordained elders.