Itinerant minister

Illustration from The Circuit Rider: A Tale of the Heroic Age by Edward Eggleston depicting a Methodist circuit rider on horseback.

Itinerant minister (also known as an itinerant preacher or evangelist or circuit riders) is a Christian evangelist who preaches the basic Christian redemption message while traveling around to different groups of people within a relatively short period of time. The movement is different from longer term church planting missions and discipleship.

History

Early 1st Century New Testament figures such as John the Baptist and Paul of Tarsus were known for extensively traveling and preaching the Gospel to unreached peoples in the Middle East and Europe, although often staying for longer periods than modern itinerant evangelists. Starting in the eighteenth century, the Methodists were known for sending out itinerant preachers known as circuit riders to share the message.

See also

• Circuit rider (religious)