Speaker: John Burchill. John is an author and criminal justice historian who teaches at Kansas Wesleyan University

In the days when Wild Bill Hickok might ride his horse into your church service—it happened in Junction City—the life of a minister was a rowdy affair. This presentation looks into the early years of Kansas clergy and the colorful characters that made up our early faith communities, such as Pastor Gay of Mulvane who faced a gunman in church—and then converted him. Later, this converted gunman used his jail cell to preach to passersby in Winfield. Other congregations met in butcher shops, saloons, dugouts, and by the side of rivers. Join us to discuss how abolitionists, early missions, and the temperance movement all played a role in the lives of religious leaders in Kansas.