Child preacher
In some branches of Christianity, especially American pentecostalism, children are occasionally preachers, or even ordained ministers. The heyday of child preachers was in the 1920s and 1930s,[1] but a number of videos of modern-day child preachers can be seen on YouTube.[2]
One of the most prominent child preachers was Marjoe Gortner, who was the subject of the 1972 documentary Marjoe .
According to Randall Balmer, the appeal of having child preachers is in its novelty, making it "a kind of a carnival side-show".[1]
In 2012, when he was 11 years old, Ezekiel Stoddard was ordained as a minister in his family's non-denominational Fullness of Time Church, in Maryland.[3]
In 2011, National Geographic aired a documentary that featured a four-year-old preacher in the United Pentecostal Church International.[4] [5]
See also
[edit ]References
[edit ]- ^ a b Hebblethwaite, Cordelia (29 August 2012). "The curious allure of child preachers". BBC News . Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ Harris, Dan; Murphey, Chris (16 August 2012). "Boy Preacher, 11, Says Skeptics Make Him 'More Determined to Stay in Christ'". ABC News . Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ "11-year-old preacher and minister". BBC News.
- ^ Walsh, Stephen (17 August 2011). "Documentary shines light on pint-sized preachers". CNN . Archived from the original on October 20, 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ "Pint-Sized Preachers". National Geographic. Archived from the original on March 4, 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2017.