Holy Rolling is sometimes used derisively by those outside these denominations, as if to describe people literally rolling on the floor in an uncontrolled manner. Those within related Wesleyan traditions have reclaimed the term as a badge of honor.
Occasionally, they have been referred to as followers of the "pokeweed gospel" or members of the "lightning bug church."[2]
Many individuals in the wider Methodist tradition are also referred to by others asShouting Methodists due to theejaculatory prayers congregants often utter during theservice of worship, such as "Praise the Lord!", "Hallelujah!", and "Amen![5][6]
Similar disparaging terms directed at outspoken Christians but later embraced by them includeJesus freaks or, from former centuries,Methodists,Quakers, andShakers.
With the rise ofHoliness Pentecostalism in the early 20th century, the termHoly Roller has been applied to Holiness Pentecostals as well.[7]
Merriam-Webster traces the expression to 1841.[4] TheOxford English Dictionary cites an 1893 memoir byCharles Godfrey Leland, in which he says "When theHoly Spirit seized them ... the Holy Rollers ... rolled over and over on the floor."[8] The term describes dancing, shaking or other boisterous movements by church attendees who perceive themselves as being under the influence of theHoly Spirit.[9]
Those within related Wesleyan traditions have reclaimed the term as a badge of honor; for exampleWilliam Branham wrote: "And what the world calls today holy-roller, that's the way I worshipJesus Christ."[10] Gospel singerAndraé Crouch stated, "They call us holy rollers, and what they say is true. But if they knew what we were rollin' about, they'd be rollin' too." Decades earlier, in the notes for his 1960 albumBlues & Roots, jazz musicianCharles Mingus used the term, seemingly neutrally and as a simple description, to indicate his own religious upbringing.
Gifford Pinchot in 1919: "Apparently no meeting for any purpose is to be tolerated except the Holy Roller meetings themselves. These theoretically and in fact ... The Holy Roller church in this community, as elsewhere, in its total influence promotes immorality. ..."[11]
The New York Times on May 2, 1923: "Bound Brook Mob RaidsKlan Meeting: Thousand Hostile Citizens Surround Church and Lock In 100 Holy Rollers. ... Until the arrival of eight State troopers to reinforce the local police here at 1 o'clock this morning about one hundred members of the Holy Rollers were ..."[12]
Time on October 12, 1936: "When Jesus Christ first appeared to His assembled disciples after His resurrection, He told them that believers 'shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents' (Mark: 16:17, 18). To many a U.S. religionist of the Pentecostal or "Holy Roller" variety, the 'gift of tongues' has long been vivid reality.
William L. Shirer inBerlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934-1941 described the look on the faces of hysterical Nazis calling for Adolf Hitler to come out of his hotel in September 1934: "They reminded me of the crazed expressions I saw once in the back country of Louisiana on the faces of some Holy Rollers who were about to hit the trail."[13]
Sarah Palin on January 19, 2016, referred to some in the crowd as "holy rollers" when she endorsedDonald Trump: "Looking around at all of you, you hard working Iowa families, you farm families and teachers and teamsters and cops and cooks, you rock and rollers and holy rollers! You all make the world go around and now our cause is one."[14]
The Scottish hard rock bandNazareth has a song titled "Holy Roller"—first officially released 1975 onGreatest Hits—which uses the term throughout the song's lyrics.
"Holy Roller" is a song byCountry Joe McDonald from his 1981 albumInto the Fray.
In the 1982 stage musicalLittle Shop of Horrors, the song "Dentist" has the lyrics "When I start extracting those molars, you girls will be screaming like Holy Rollers."
"Holy Rollers" is a song by Canadian alternative rock bandSons of Freedom, from their eponymous 1988 debut album.
"Holy Roller" is the fourth track on the albumApple released in July 1990 byMother Love Bone.
The 1994Trance Zomba album byArgentine bandBabasónicos features a song called "Patinador Sagrado", which in itself is a mistranslation of the term, using it in the sense ofrollerskating, a trend that continues throughout the song's lyrics.
The American rock bandPortugal. The Man released a song titled “Holy Roller (Hallelujah)” on their 2013 albumEvil Friends.
Spoon's 2014 single "Inside Out" contains the line "I don't make time for holy rollers".
The 2014Thank You Scientist song "Feed The Horses" contains the line, "I won't be your holy roller..."
"Holy Roller" is the title of the 10th track on the 2015Awolnation albumRun.
The 2016Panic! at the Disco album,Death of a Bachelor, contains the line "Turn the memory to stone and carve your shoulder/Hey, holy roller" in the song The Good, the Bad, and the Dirty.[15]
"Holy Roller" is the first single from theThe Format's 2026 comeback albumBoycott Heaven. The song was released on October 6, 2025 after being on hiatus since 2008.
In the 11th episode of the third season ofMama's Family, "Where There's Smoke". When asked about a young female convict's religion Mama says. "She's means Holy Rollers." to keep up a charade that the girl can't speak any English and is from Sweden.. Guest starYeardley Smith.
In the episode ofFrasier, titled "Wheels of Fortune," Frasier's dad tells Michael Keaton he's a holy roller, after Keaton goes around doing evangelical sermons from his wheelchair.
The "Holy Roller" play was a game-winning play executed by theOakland Raiders to beat theSan Diego Chargers on September 10, 1978. QuarterbackKen Stabler fumbled the ball forward and several Raiders teammates (Pete Banaszak andDave Casper) aided the ball's roll into the end zone for the game winning touchdown. The NFL amended its rules in the off-season to prevent the recurrence of such a play.
^abSnyder, C. Albert (1 May 2006).Spiritual Journey. Xulon Press. p. 69.ISBN9781600340161.Holiness means different things to different people. Our church, the Free Methodist, is a "holiness" church. One doctor said to me: "Free Methodists? I know about them; they are holy rollers. They used to have camp meetings near where I grew up."
^Synan, Vinson (25 August 1997).The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 9.ISBN978-0-8028-4103-2.At times the emotions of the sanctified Methodists would exceed the limits of control. "Some would be seized with a trembling, and in a few moments drop on the floor as if they were dead; while others were embracing each other with streaming eyes, and all were lose in wonder, love and praise," wrote one observer. Another noted that some wept for grief while others shouted for joy "so that it was hard to distinguish one from the other." At times the congregations would "raise a great shout" that could be heard for miles around.
^ab"Holy Roller".Merriam-Webster. Retrieved2010-09-14.A member of one of the Protestant sects whose worship meetings are characterized by spontaneous expressions of emotional excitement.
^Richie, Tony (20 January 2020).Essentials of Pentecostal Theology: An Eternal and Unchanging Lord Powerfully Present & Active by the Holy Spirit. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 122.ISBN978-1-5326-3881-7.
^Fahlbusch, Erwin (2008).The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 438.ISBN9780802824172.The "shouting Methodists" of the early 1800s, and the later Holiness or Pentecostal "holy rollers" in both Caucasian and African-American congregations, insisted that a genuine experience of God's glorious presence called for exuberant, bodily response.
^"Bound Brook Mob Raids Klan Meeting: Thousand Hostile Citizens Surround Church and Lock In 100 Holy Rollers".New York Times. May 2, 1923. Retrieved2010-09-22.Until the arrival of eight State troopers to reinforce the local police here at 1 o'clock this morning about one hundred members of the Holy Rollers were locked up in their church, the Pillar of Fire, in Main Street, surrounded by a mob of nearly 1,000 hostile citizens, several hundred of whom broke up a meeting held by the Holy Rollers to organize a Klan here last night.
