“Young and Roving”

Abstract This chapter examines John Leland’s eventful itinerant preaching ministry in colonial Virginia. When he relocated there in 1775, Anglican-established Virginia was experiencing a massive transformation as a result of the Great Awakening, particularly the arrival of the Separate Baptists. The uncouth Separate Baptists upset the orderly religious and social world of colonial Virginia by their radical revivalism and refusal to submit to Anglican authorities. Separate Baptists suffered for this, but received a tremendous reception from the colony’s ordinary people. Leland participated in this movement, traveling vast distances as an itinerant, facing persecution for his commitment to baptizing new believers, leading emotional revivals, and attaining celebrity status as a highly effective popular communicator.