An itinerant preacher (also known as an itinerant minister or evangelist or circuit rider) is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

who preaches the basic

redemption message while traveling around to different groups of people within a relatively short period of time. The usage of these travelling ministers is known as itineracy or itinerancy.

History

Early 1st Century New Testament figures such as

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and Apostle Paul were known for extensively traveling and preaching to

unreached people group In Christianity, an unreached people group refers to an ethnic group without an indigenous, self-propagating Christian church movement. Any ethnic or ethnolinguistic nation without enough Christians to evangelize the rest of the nation is an "unrea ...

s in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

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. The 'Itinerancy' is denoted as one of the "chief peculiar usages" of classic Methodism, along with practices such as

class meeting The cell group is a form of church organization that is used in many Christian churches. Cell groups are generally intended to teach the Bible and personalize Christian fellowship. They are always used in cell churches, but also occur in parac ...

s and

watchnight service A watchnight service (also called Watchnight Mass) is a late-night Christian church service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not ex ...

References

{{Methodism footer Christian clergy by type Itinerant living Evangelism

History

See also

References