kansas methodism  Family Album, Vol. I (Circuit Riders)
	An illustration by Lynd Ward, found in Endless Line of Splendor, Copyright, 1975, by the Joint Committee on Communications of The United Methodist Church and used by permission.

 

 

Before the sun went down, the Methodist Circuit Rider had done several days work. He would have preached  perhaps three times, called on the sick, rested

 

his horse, conversed with leaders of the Societies and ridden more than 50 miles on horseback.  Often sickly and suffering from thedeprivations of this lifestyle, many horseback Circuit Riders did not live to see their 30th birthday. This fact alone is responsible for the use of the Wesley hymn, "And Are We Yet Alive," as the opening hymn of the Annual Gathering of the Preachers in the early Methodist Annual Conferences. This practice continues to the present day in countless Annual Conferences, as an expression of joy for making it through another year of ministry.

 

Circuit Rider Graphics  (main page)

 

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