sawdust trail

American  

noun

1. the road to conversion or rehabilitation, as for a sinner or criminal.

2. Also called sawdust circuit.  the itinerary of revival meetings.

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Etymology

Origin of sawdust trail

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; so called from the sawdust-covered aisles in the temporary constructions put up for revival meetings

Example Sentences

Rather than arriving at faith along the sawdust trail of American evangelicalism, Buechner came via Princeton University and, eventually, Union Theological Seminary.

From Washington Post • Aug. 22, 2022

Graham took his fellow evangelicals from the margins to the center — from the sawdust trail to the White House.

From Washington Post • Feb. 21, 2018

They left the sawdust trail only this year, after singing in churches all over the South, to try the nightclub circuit.

From Time Magazine Archive

Graham has achieved a remarkable four- decade run of 375 carefully choreographed revival meetings along a civilized sawdust trail.

From Time Magazine Archive

In spite of the thousands who have hit the sawdust trail, however, it is difficult to believe that more than a tiny proportion of his auditors are religiously affected by him.

From The Invisible Censor by Hackett, Francis