Abstract
Few individuals in American history have made a contribution to the Black Church—or to the total Church, for that matter—equal to that of
the itinerant preacher. This is especially true of the late colonial period and the subsequent early years of American independence. These
formative decades of the late eighteenth-early nineteenth centuries saw the Invisible Church become increasingly vibrant. Formal ecclesiastical structure was likewise taking form as denominations came into being. Evangelism was aggressive and the results clearly evident as membership increased.