Itinerant preacher
An itinerant preacher (also known as an itinerant minister) 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.[1] The usage of these travelling evangelists is known as itineracy or itinerancy.[2][3]
History
[edit]Early first century New Testament figures such as John the Baptist,[4] Jesus Christ and Apostle Paul were known for traveling extensively and preaching to unreached people groups in the Middle East and Europe, although they often stayed for longer periods than modern itinerant evangelists. In the Middle Ages, preachers from the mendicant orders such as Franciscans and Dominicans, would likewise travel from town to town to preach repentance or to combat heresy.
Starting in the eighteenth century, the Methodists were known for their itinerant preachers, known as circuit riders, to share the message.[5][6] Among the most noted would be George Whitefield, who drew huge crowds as he traveled about colonial America during the 18th century[7] The unusual and unconventional methods employed by the Methodists often resulted in compounding the existing rift between Anglicanism and Methodism. The "Itinerancy" is denoted as one of the "chief peculiar usages" of classic Methodism, along with practices such as class meetings and watchnight services.[8]
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 circuit in 1836. She travelled 682 miles, over 200 of which were on foot, begging for food and lodging and carrying her own luggage.[9]
The Quakers referred to their itinerant preachers as "public friends".[10]
Modern itinerancy
[edit]In the Methodist Church of Great Britain, ministerial appointments last for several years and may be extended. A process known as "stationing" enables churches and circuits to identify the type of minister they would propose to invite to serve them and ministers to put forward their offer to serve: the stationing process then matches these and the appointments are confirmed by the Annual Conference.[11]
Appointments in the United Methodist Church now last for one year.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Circuit Preacher David Brown". Religion and Ethics News Weekly. PBS. August 31, 2007.
- 1 2 "To be United Methodist: What is "itineracy"?". The United Methodist Church. 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
- ↑ "Glossary: itineracy, itinerancy". 17 May 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
- ↑ Rindoš, Jaroslav (2010). He of Whom it is Written: John the Baptist and Elijah in Luke. p. 110.
- ↑ Neely, Thomas Benjamin (1914). The minister in the itinerant system. Fleming H. Revell company.
- ↑ Haime, Frederick Charles (1865). An itinerant preacher; or, Sketches from the life of the rev. Charles Haime. Hamilton, Adams & Co.
- ↑ Galli, Mark (2010). "George Whitefield: Sensational Evangelist of Britain and America". 131 Christians Everyone Should Know. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group. pp. 63–66. ISBN 978-0-8054-9040-4. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ↑ Garrison, Stephen O. (1908). Probationer's Handbook. Eaton and Mains. p. 31.
- ↑ Graham, E. Dorothy (2013). Chosen by God: The Female Itinerants of Early Primitive Methodism (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Birmingham – via University of Birmingham Research Archive.
- ↑ Moyer, Paul B. (2015). The Public Universal Friend: Jemima Wilkinson and Religious Enthusiasm in Revolutionary America. Cornell University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-8014-5413-4. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- ↑ Hurd, J., Hall, R. and Cameron, H., "Ministers on the Move", in the connexion, published by the Methodist Church, Winter 2019, pages 16-17