The Evangelical Impact of Methodist Circuit Riders
Across the street from our 19th-century Alabama home stands a small, white, traditional church that has historically been used by Methodist congregations. Because of the configuration of our house, it is thought that the front room may have once been used to provide lodging for traveling Methodist preachers. I currently use it as an office.
In early America, it was the practice of many families to dedicate the front room of their houses for this purpose. This special area would have typically been furnished a bit better than the rest of the home and would have had a separate door to the outside so that the visiting preacher could access the room without entering the main living area.
The preachers who ministered in this fashion were typically known as “circuit riders” because they were assigned certain geographic territories or “circuits” where they would systematically visit rural communities by horseback for the purpose of preaching and performing other rites of the church.
The concept of such traveling preachers was first put into practice in England in the 1700’s and was started by John Wesley who had become concerned that the Anglican church was not meeting the needs of common folk and those who lived in more sparsely populated communities. Many know John Wesley as the founder of Methodism, the practices of which came to form the basis of the Methodist denomination.
The evangelical impact of John Wesley and his family can hardly be measured. While John was a thoroughly devoted and innovative preacher, his brother Charles was a prolific songwriter composing many of the most beloved hymns of the church, such as O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, and the Christmas classic, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. The spiritual writings of John and Charles’ mother, Susanna, are also widely appreciated today.
While the concept of a traveling preacher was very successful in England, it was even more effective when it was employed in early America. The danger involved in riding on horseback through untamed lands in order to reach the lost with the gospel attracted only the most courageous and committed ministers. One of these was Peter Cartwright, a circuit rider and evangelist credited with helping ignite the 2nd great Awakening. Cartwright was a vocal abolitionist and a proponent of personal holiness. He was elected to the Illinois state legislature in 1828 and, after serving two terms, lost a congressional race to Abraham Lincoln. He wrote The Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, which detailed the challenges faced by circuit riders and reported that he had personally baptized 12,000 converts to Christianity.
Many of the devoted men who served as circuit riders in their youth went on to other professions where they could continue to employ their God-given gifts and talents. One of these was William G. “Parson” Brownlow, who ultimately became the Governor of Tennessee and later a United States Senator.
Whether it is missionaries trekking on foot into the Amazon rainforest, evangelists using motorcycles to reach the remote villages of Viet Nam, or bold young men navigating the wilds of early America on horseback, God will always provide the means to those whose hearts and minds are open to innovative approaches to spreading the gospel.
John Wesley’s Christ-like love of ordinary people neglected and overlooked by the traditional church of his day, led to the sowing of many gospel seeds that are undoubtedly still producing fruit today.