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A circuit rider was a traveling Methodist preacher, who usually rode on horseback to rural communities that had no churches. The circuit system was developed in England by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and brought to America by the Methodist preacher Francis Asbury in 1771. Each circuit, supervised by a Methodist conference preacher, consisted of twenty to forty “appointments.” The solitary circuit rider made his rounds to establish churches and organize congregations. Any man able to preach effectively and willing to live on a horse on the frontier could become an assistant to the conference preacher and later become a circuit rider.
Circuit riders were expected to preach every day, twice on Sundays, and to cover their circuit every four to five weeks. A circuit rider’s pay was an annual salary of about one hundred dollars, usually including a horse. Circuit riders were an important moral and religious element of the frontier, and they were a key factor in the establishment of Methodism in America.
Approximate Word count = 820
Approximate Pages = 3.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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