Methodist Circuit Riders
November 2, 2026
When Tommie asked me on Friday if I would be willing to share a message today because of the need to change the program, I asked her what topic she would like. And she said, “well, Election Day is coming up but you probably shouldn’t talk about politics.”
But after thinking about it, I just knew that you would at least want me to share a few political dad-jokes to at least started.
So here we go. Political dad-jokes.
The opposite of pro is con, so the opposite of progress is congress.
How many politicians does it take to fix a flat tire? None. They’re all afraid of inflation.
A man said to his friend one day, “two years ago, my brother ran for congress.” The friend asked him, “Well, what does he do now?” And the man replied, “nothing because he got elected.”
How do you begin a politically incorrect joke? You begin the joke by saying, “President Ben Franklin walks into a bar…”
Do you know why fish are so political? They’re always taking the debate.
So, Tommie, thank you for planting that idea and for casting your vote to elect me as your Speaker of the Church today. Actually, the topic I decided to talk about today does have a slight connection with politics.
I want to talk about one of the greatest of all of the 19th century Methodist Circuit Rider preachers, Rev. Peter Cartwright. Circuit Riders were preachers who rode on horseback from town to town to visit churches who were part of their circuit. And they would do this every year on a quarterly basis where they preached, administered the Sacraments, and offered spiritual support and guidance.
That’s how the Methodist church grew so rapidly in the 1800s. It was because of all of these circuit riders who would travel from town to town to start new Methodist congregations. One of my churches in Ohio got its start because of Peter Cartwright back in 1806.
He was a circuit riding preacher in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois where he ended up spending the rest of his life. In fact, he was the founding member of the Illinois Conference of the Methodist Church back in 1824.
Born in Virginia in 1785, his family moved to Kentucky. When he was a teenager, he was converted at a Methodist camp meeting in 1801 and the following year he became a Methodist preacher and was ordained in 1806 by Francis Asbury who was the Methodist Bishop in America.
He served as a military chaplain during the War of 1812. He got involved in Illinois politics as well and ended up losing to Abraham Lincoln for a seat in the US congress in 1846.
Cartwright was a Jacksonian Democrat during his political career who was always seeking to support the rights of the common man. And fun little piece of political trivia, it was during the presidential campaign of 1828 when the political opponents of Andrew Jackson made fun of his populist views by labeling him a jackass. And Jackson decided to embrace the insult which is how the donkey has become the symbol of the Democrat Party to this day.
The elephant became the Republican Party symbol during Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign to portray a symbol of strength.
But back to the circuit rider, Peter Cartwright. While there were many Methodist circuit riders during the 1800s, Peter Cartwright stands out for a couple of reasons. First of all, he was a very dynamic, outspoken, and energetic preacher. Like other Methodist circuit riders, he would ride horseback for several hours taking only a bible, a hymnal, and a copy of the Methodist discipline and he would visit the churches on his circuit.
Circuit riders would often be assigned a massive geographical area spanning 200 to 500 miles in circumference. They would ride through storms, dangerous frontier terrain and made a very meager salary while doing it. Many didn’t make it past age 30 and most remained single. A well known saying during that time by people who lived in the frontier was, “There is nothing out today but crows and Methodist preachers.”
The second reason for Peter Cartwright being well known is that he is known for an autobiography that he wrote called, “The Backwoods Preacher” which was published in 1856. You can get a free copy on Amazon. I read it several years ago and I’m planning on reading it again thanks to this topic today.
It’s a really fun read because he shares lots of stories of his adventures. There are stories of him preaching at Methodist camp meetings which were known as the social hub of that time period. Hundreds of people would attend the camp meetings even if they didn’t care about religion because it was where you could meet people.
Peter Cartwright shares about times when he would be preaching the gospel and there would be people who were up to no good who would disrupt the service, and he would have to go and track them down often getting physically hurt as a result. Not only were Methodist preachers leading the services, but they would also have to be their own bodyguards as well.
I want to close with one of my favorite stories from his autobiography. It’s about a time when he was conducting camp meetings in Illinois where he spent the remaining years of his ministry. He was riding his horse when he came up to two men and a lady who were riding in a wagon. They were from Ohio.
They were shouting out religious phrases as if they had just been to one of the Methodist camp meetings. They shouted out phrases like, “Glory to God!! Glory to God!! Hallelujah!! Another sinner 's down!! Glory to God! Hallelujah!! Glory!! Hallelujah!”
At first, Peter Cartwright thought that they were simply celebrating their newfound faith that they had experienced at one of these Methodist tent meetings. But as he got closer and closer to their wagon, it became apparent to him that they were being sarcastic by shouting out these phrases and they were actually making fun of him.
When he realized this, he shouted back at them and told them to cease their insults and to instead repent and turn to Christ. But they continued their sarcasm by shouting out even louder, “Glory to God! Glory to God! Hallelujah!! Another sinner’s down!! Glory to God! Hallelujah!! Glory!! Hallelujah!”
To make matters worse, Peter’s horse was up in years and he wasn’t able to get around their wagon so he had to endure their insults for quite a while. When he tried to pass them, they would crack the whip and were able to stay in front of him.
Thinking that he was destined to be tormented by these Ohio heathens for the remainder of his ride, he remembered that there was a mud-hole about a quarter of a mile ahead that they probably wouldn’t notice since it was difficult to see. The locals knew to avoid that part of the road entirely since wagons were known to sink into the mud and tip over.
Peter Cartwright managed to get ahead of their wagon and not wanting him to get ahead of them, they sped up and were traveling at a good speed. And sure enough, the plan worked. Not seeing the deep mud-pit, the wagon hit it just right and it tilted into the soft mud as Peter continued to ride safely ahead.
Here’s the rest of the story as told word for word by Peter Cartwright in his autobiography:
The young lady was dressed in white, and as the wagon went over, she sprang as far as she could, and lighted on all fours; her hands sunk into the mud up to her armpits, her mouth and the whole of her face immersed in the muddy water, and she certainly would have strangled if the young men had not relieved her.
As they helped her up and out, I had wheeled my horse to see the fun. I rode up to the edge of the mud, stopped my horse, reared in my stirrups, and shouted at the top of my voice, "Glory to God! Glory to God! Hallelujah! Another sinner's down! Glory to God! Hallelujah! Glory! Hallelujah!" Peter Cartwright goes on to write,
“If ever mortals felt mean, these youngsters did; and well they might; for they had carried on all this sport to make light of religion, and to insult a minister, a total stranger to them. But they condemned religion, and hated the Methodists, especially Methodist preachers. When I became tired of shouting over them, I said to them, ‘Now, you poor, dirty, mean sinners, take this as a just judgment of God upon you for your meanness, and repent of your dreadful wickedness; and let this be the last time that you attempt to insult a Methodist preacher.’”
I tell this story, not to say that we should repay evil for evil, but to show that these early Methodists were not received very well by a lot of people. Add in that they were doing all of this out there in the wilderness and the wild frontier, and it’s truly amazing to think of all that they were able to accomplish.
Sometimes, when I get in my SUV to run an errand or drive to a church, I think of this description of what those early Methodist preachers endured in the wild frontier over two hundred years ago.
“Methodist preachers went from fort to fort, from camp to camp, from tent to tent, from cabin to cabin, with or without road or path. We walked on dirt floors for carpets, sat on stools or benches for chairs, ate on puncheon tables, had forked sticks and pocket, or butcher knives for knives and forks, slept on bear, deer, or buffalo skins before the fire, or sometimes on the ground in open air for downy beds, had our saddles, or saddle bags for pillows instead of pillows of feathers, and one new suit of clothes of homespun was ample clothing for one year for an early Methodist preacher in the west.
We crossed creeks and large rivers without bridges or ferry boats, often swam them on horseback, or crossed on trees that had fallen over the streams, drove our horses over, and often waded out waist deep; and if by chance we got a dug-out or a canoe; to cross in ourselves and swim our horses by, it was quite a treat.”
Today, let’s raise a toast to those 19th century Methodist Circuit riders for their incredible dedication and willingness to spread the good news of Jesus Christ near and far.
Let us pray: O Lord, thank you for those early preachers who you called and sent to share the good news of Jesus. Thank you for people in our lives who have shared their faith with us. And may be also share the good news of Christ in all that we say and do. In the name of Jesus, we offer this prayer. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment