In June of this year, Apprising Ministries reported on Ezekiel Stoddard, an 11-year-old boy who recently was ordained as a pastor and insists that God called him in a dream to preach the Gospel. Today, the BBC offers some follow-up on Stoddard, as well as some background on other engaging child preachers throughout history:
The US is by no means the only country with child preachers – there is a thriving market for them in Brazil, for example, and Indonesia even has a controversial TV show where young Islamic preachers compete.
The phenomenon is most likely to crop up among denominations which emphasise the power of the Holy Spirit and encourage lay participation, says Edith Blumhofer, an expert on the history of Christianity, based at Wheaten College in Illinois.