Thursday, July 25, 2019

Churches in the Old West—and a giveaway




From the Florida home where I grew up, if you drive just one block south, you’ll reach a Baptist church. Three blocks west is an Assembly of God church. Half a mile north is a Pentecostal church, and one mile east is a Christian (Disciples of Christ) church. There are places of worship on nearly every corner in my town, with plenty of denominations represented. By and large, most of those who lead these churches have probably been through some formal training for their positions, whether a church-ordained training program, a 4-year Bible college, or a full-fledged theological seminary. And in many cases, the churches in my area don’t have just one pastor, but two, five, or twenty, depending on the size.

Desolate old church on a foggy morning.

In the Old West, such saturation of churches and preachers was hardly the case. In the days of the various western gold rushes, many men flooded into the western territories with a lust for riches. Some tent churches cropped up in the various mining communities, but by my research, the preachers in those areas had difficulty drawing men from their claims long enough to attend a Sunday service once a month.

After the Civil War ended, disillusioned soldiers from both sides, many who’d lost everything, also went west. Those early days after the war, when the population was mostly men (with some “women of ill repute” thrown in), were fraught with wildness and a lack of civility. Villages and towns cropped up, but they were largely populated by people whose focus was on carving out a life--mere survival. The niceties of polite society—like Sunday church services—often became distant memories rather than regular occurrences. 

However, as time went on, women began to join the western culture. With them came the more refined aspects of society—schools and churches. While a few western towns had a church with a regular preacher (probably the larger ones), many had no such luxuries. In towns where a church hadn’t become a regular fixture, they might be fortunate to have a circuit-riding preacher visit two to four times a year and hold a prayer meeting. The occasional visit of the preacher was a planned event, with word circulating through the town and outlying areas. Folks would plan weddings and baptisms to coincide with the itinerant preacher’s arrival, and his coming often meant a large community event with a potluck meal and much celebration. Because those communities didn’t have a dedicated church building, they might meet in a schoolhouse or in an open meadow or empty town lot. Sometimes the meetings were held at someone’s home. Or, at times, the service would be held in a…saloon. Yes, a saloon, because it was one of the larger buildings in town with the ability to host a large number of people at once—and it typically wouldn’t be in use on a Sunday morning.

The preachers in the West were an interesting lot. They came from many
Peter Cartwright
denominations—but the largest sponsoring body was, by far, the Methodist church. They saw the need of the Gospel early on and sent preachers into the western territories in droves. By and large, these ministers of truth fell between the ages of 18 and 30. Often, they were poor, and most were unmarried. Unlike today, many had no formal training. They simply preached what they knew. I’ve heard it said that the circuit-riding preachers had a single sermon they delivered at every stop, no matter how many times they’d visited the area. Of course, these factoids didn't represent all western preachers. Some worked into their old age, despite the hardships of life on the circuit. Peter Cartwright is one such preacher. I invite you to watch a short video on his fascinating life here.

Interestingly, while these men of God preached a message of peace, many lived by (or with?) the sword—er, gun. Many western preachers came with a Bible in one hand and a pistol in the other. Some would remove their gun belts during services. Others would leave their weapons on their hips in case of danger. And lest we think that all western preachers were angels, they weren’t. I’ve read stories of plenty of “preachers” who used their position to bilk parishioners of money, who worked as bounty hunters or hired guns in addition to their preaching, or one who even murdered his wife in order to be with his secret love. Yet most were honest and god-fearing men who truly did feel called to preach God’s word to the lost in the Western Territories, no matter how humble or broken their own beginnings were.

It’s your turn: The hero of Taming Petra, one of four novellas from the Cameo Courtships collection, is a western preacher. For a chance to win a copy of this wonderful collection plus a fun cameo necklace, please leave a comment (including your email address) telling me what, if any, of the details about western churches or preachers surprises you and why.

Jennifer Uhlarikdiscovered the western genre as a pre-teen when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has finaled and won in numerous writing competitions, and been on the ECPA best-seller list numerous times. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers, Women Writing the West, and is a lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, college-aged son, and four fur children.



Cameo Courtships
A Family Heirloom Inspires Romance
In 1851, a special cameo is gifted by Queen Victoria to Letitia Newton, who though considered an old maid, meets the perfect gentleman minutes after donning. Told by the Queen the cameo is to be shared, Letitia gifts the "Victoria Cameo" to a woman in her family, hoping adventure and romance will follow each of its subsequent wearers.

22 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your very interesting post. I had no idea that the preachers were so young.
    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. That was a surprising fact to me as well, Melanie! Thank you for stopping by!

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  2. Thanks for highlighting this aspect of western life. This is how I pictured western life so I wasn't surprised by much, other than the murderous preacher!!! Thanks for the post, and the giveaway. bcrugattwcdotcom

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    1. LOL Yes, Connie, that was a rather startling discovery for me too. From what I read, the murderous preacher poisoned his wife. Oh my!

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  3. The preachers going forward to preach to those who were shady, reminds me of how Jesus did the same thing, but He didn't carry weapons. Interesting to know that the Methodist Church was one of the forerunners of the Gospel. I'm a member of my local United Methodist Church. Thank you for the giveaway! jenningskaren1973 at gmail dot com

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    1. So very true, Karen! Jesus did preach to the most humble, shady, and lost of society. And yes, the Methodist church was on the forefront of spreading the Gospel through the Old West, though I will say that other denominations were also represented.

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  4. Interesting how worship service could be held anywhere, in a building or in a meadow. Also, very interesting how some western preachers came with a Bible in one hand and a pistol in the other hand. I wonder if the pistol brought calm to the people worshiping or gave them cause for worry.

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    1. That's an interesting thought, Melissa--whether the presence of the preacher's gun brought peace or worry. If I had to guess, ir probably depended largely on where said preacher was preaching. If he was in a rowdy place, perhaps guns were such common sights that no one gave it much thought.

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  5. Welcome. This is an interesting post. I have read a lot of these facts. But not really sure what is and what isn't true. It makes sense that they would carry a gun in those areas. And like any man, there are good ones and there are bad ones. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Lori. Glad you enjoyed the post.

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  6. That would be so hard to only have church meetings a couple of times a year. I count on the support and teaching of my church family. Email is: stevejoin @ donohoanalytics . com

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    1. Right, Lisa? Oh my, I would have a hard time with that too.

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  7. Interesting post! One sermon at every town over and over, that is surprising.

    pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. The SAME sermon. Probably a fire-and-brimstone, come-to-Jesus sermon. ;)

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  8. Jennifer, Thank you for this informative post. I never thought about the integrity of these preachers being questionable. Especially to murder one's own wife to be with his mistress.

    psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Caryl. I guess human nature doesn't change much, no matter what generation one lives in--while the majority of preachers are good, god-fearing men of integrity--there are always those few who take advantage of their positions.

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  9. Interesting post, Jennifer. I had read some of these facts before but didn't realize they kept their gun on their hip while preaching. Preaching the same sermon over and over probably was one for true salvation with forsaking the sins of the West like gambling, drinking, women, etc. Thank you for sharing.
    marilynridgway78[at]gmail[dot]com

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it, Marilyn. Your thoughts are similar to mine on the one sermon over and over--a good, ol' fashioned "come-to-Jesus" sermon. ;)

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  10. I am surprised that preachers would hold services in saloons. Though I did read a book where the hero was a preacher to a new/small town without a church and tried repeatedly to get the saloon owner to let him use the saloon on Sunday mornings to hold services. I thought it was just part of the story. Thanks for the giveaway and good luck everyone!! princessdebbie1_2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Hi Debbie, no that wasn't just part of the story. LOL My research says that they really DID hold services on the salooons in some towns. Had to be awkward, I would think!

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  11. Thank you, everyone, for your great comments. Congratulations to Karen Jennings for winning the giveaway. Karen, I'll be contacting you privately for your mailing address.

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  12. Oh!!! I'm so happy, thank you, Jennifer! I enjoyed your post and now I can enjoy reading Cameo Courtships and wearing the little cameo. Yay! What a nice August 1st surprise. I really enjoy HHH and all of you fabulous writers, Jennifer. Blessings to you....

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