# Itinerant preacher

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Travelling Christian evangelist who preaches the redemption message

Illustration from *The Circuit Rider: A Tale of the Heroic Age* by [Edward Eggleston](/source/Edward_Eggleston) depicting a [Methodist](/source/Methodist) [circuit rider](/source/Circuit_rider_(religious)) on horseback

An **itinerant preacher** (also known as an **itinerant minister**) is a [Christian](/source/Christians) [evangelist](/source/Evangelism) who preaches the basic [Christian](/source/Christianity) [redemption](/source/Redemption_(theology)) message while traveling around to different groups of people within a relatively short period of time.[1] The usage of these travelling evangelists is known as **itineracy** or **itinerancy**.[2][3]

## History

Early first century [New Testament](/source/New_Testament) figures such as [John the Baptist](/source/John_the_Baptist),[4] [Jesus Christ](/source/Jesus_Christ) and [Apostle Paul](/source/Apostle_Paul) were known for extensively traveling and preaching to [unreached people groups](/source/Unreached_people_group) in the [Middle East](/source/Middle_East) and Europe, although often staying for longer periods than modern itinerant evangelists. In the Middle Ages, preachers from the mendicant orders such as [Franciscans](/source/Franciscans) and [Dominicans](/source/Dominican_Order), would likewise travel from town to town to preach repentance or to combat heresy.

Starting in the eighteenth century, the [Methodists](/source/Methodists) were known for their itinerant preachers, known as [circuit riders](/source/Circuit_rider_(religious)), to share the message.[5][6] Among the most noted would be [George Whitefield](/source/George_Whitefield) who drew huge crowds as he traveled about colonial America during the 18th century[7]. The 'Itinerancy' is denoted as one of the "chief peculiar usages" of classic Methodism, along with practices such as [class meetings](/source/Class_meeting) and [watchnight services](/source/Watchnight_service).[8]

[Mary Porteous](/source/Mary_Porteous) was a Primitive Methodist itinereant preacher. She was given permission to ignore the rules that applied to women itinerant preachers. She wrote about her time on the [North Shields](/source/North_Shields) circuit in 1836. She travelled 682 miles and over 200 of these she had walked, begging for food and lodging and carrying her own luggage.[9]

The [Quakers](/source/Quakers) referred to their itinerant preachers as "public friends".[10]

## See also

- [Mendicant](/source/Mendicant)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Circuit Preacher David Brown"](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2007/08/31/august-31-2007-circuit-preacher-david-brown/912/). *Religion and Ethics News Weekly*. PBS. August 31, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["To be United Methodist: What is "itineracy"?"](https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/to-be-united-methodist-what-is-itineracy). [The United Methodist Church](/source/The_United_Methodist_Church). 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Glossary: itineracy, itinerancy"](https://www.umc.org/en/content/glossary-itineracy-itinerancy). 17 May 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Rindoš, Jaroslav (2010). [*He of Whom it is Written: John the Baptist and Elijah in Luke*](https://books.google.com/books?isbn=3631605501). p. 110.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Neely, Thomas Benjamin (1914). [*The minister in the itinerant system*](https://archive.org/details/theministerinthe00neeluoft). Fleming H. Revell company.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Haime, Frederick Charles (1865). [*An itinerant preacher; or, Sketches from the life of the rev. Charles Haime*](https://archive.org/details/anitinerantprea00haimgoog). Hamilton, Adams & Co.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Galli, Mark](/source/Mark_Galli) (2010). ["George Whitefield: Sensational Evangelist of Britain and America"](http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/george-whitefield.html). *131 Christians Everyone Should Know*. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group. pp. 63–66. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8054-9040-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8054-9040-4). Retrieved 1 July 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Garrison1908_8-0)** [Garrison, Stephen O.](/source/Stephen_O._Garrison) (1908). *[Probationer's Handbook](/source/Probationer's_Handbook)*. Eaton and Mains. p. 31.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-phud_9-0)** Graham, E. Dorothy (2013). [*Chosen by God: The Female Itinerants of Early Primitive Methodism*](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/17346396.pdf) (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Birmingham – via University of Birmingham Research Archive.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Moyer, Paul B. (2015). [*The Public Universal Friend: Jemima Wilkinson and Religious Enthusiasm in Revolutionary America*](https://archive.org/details/publicuniversalf00moye). Cornell University Press. p. 19. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8014-5413-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8014-5413-4). Retrieved 26 September 2023.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Itinerant preacher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itinerant_preacher) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itinerant_preacher?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.