In His Steps

• Rev. Henry Maxwell, pastor of 1st church of Raymond, having been there 10 years when the story starts
• Mrs. Mary Maxwell, Henry Maxwell's wife. Appears briefly in chapter 1
• Jack Manning, a man who lost his job 10 months earlier due to the Linotype machine making him redundant, collapses in Rev. Maxwell's church, and later dies in his house starting the chain of events
• Dr. Phillip West, local medical doctor
• Rachel Winslow, a young woman, cousin of Felicia and Rose, who trades a singing career for singing for the services in the Rectangle. Eventually marries Rollin Page
• Edward Norman, editor of the Daily News
• George, one of the clerks for the Daily News, who works with the delivery boys.
• Clark, one of the managing editors of the Daily News
• Alexander Powers, Railroad superintendent of L&T R.R., later telegraph clerk
• Celia Powers, Georges daughter
• Donald Marsh, president of Lincoln College in Raymond
• Milton Wright, a businessman
• Jasper Chase, an author, rebuffed by Rachel, then conspicuously absent, finally denies his Lord
• Virginia Page, a young heiress, friend of Rachel
• Madame Florence Page, Virginia's grandmother
• Rollin Page, Virginia's brother, who will eventually marry Rachel
• Jennifer Winslow, Rachel's mother, and Felicia & Rose's aunt
• Lewis Winslow, Rachel's brother
• Mr. & Mrs. John Gray, traveling evangelists, who work in the Rectangle
• Fred Morris, Endeavor Society president, later works for Norman's paper
• Loreen Carson, a drunken lady, who later dies hit on the head
• Mrs Brown, Miss Wren, Miss Kyle, schoolteachers in Raymond

• Felicia Sterling, Rachel's cousin, 19 years old with brown eyes. Orphaned in the story, later marries Clyde
• Rose Sterling, Felicia's sister, and Rachel's other cousin, 21 years old at the time of the story. Later marries for wealth, and dark details obscured.
• Mrs. Delano, a chaperone for young girls
• Mr. Stephen Clyde, a carpenter, marries Felicia Sterling
• Rev. Calvin Bruce, D.D., seminary classmate of Henry Maxwell, pastor of Nazareth Avenue Church in Chicago. Challenged by what has happened in Raymond, does similarly in Chicago
• Mrs. Bruce, Rev. Calvin's wife
• Charles R. Sterling, father of Felicia and Rose. Commits suicide when he loses his fortune
• Camilla Rolf Sterling, mother of Felicia and Rose, and Rachel's aunt. Chose to marry Charles instead of the Bishop. Dies of shock with the death of her husband
• Bishop Edward Hampton, works with Dr. Calvin Bruce
• Burns, a person whom Bishop Hampton helped 15 years before. Tries, with an unnamed friend to rob the Bishop, but stops when he realizes who the Bishop is
• Clayton Price, owner of a saloon by the settlement
• Clarence Penrose, owner of houses in Chicago
• Diana Penrose, his daughter
• Unnamed man, who knew Jack Manning when in Philadelphia, and said he was a good man
• Carlson

Jesus appears quietly at first to one person and then to an expanding group of people in the small town of Raymond. He gradually draws more and more attention, including crowds. Jesus goes from Raymond to New York City and then Washington D.C., at points making a public splash, including media attention. The non-stereotypical character of Jesus seems fully capable of supernatural power (not showing up in pictures, for example), but chooses a nondescript mode of presenting himself. He does not appear to do dramatic public acts such as healing, but instead speaks words of comfort or lends practical help. He has views but relays them with understatement. He wears ordinary business clothes, at times blends into a crowd, and is not memorable in appearance. He is humble, practical and personable. His impact upon lives is not through obvious miracles, but old-fashioned kindness, care, and encouragement.

Sheldon creates a Jesus who is especially gentle on the modern church of his day, speaking generous words of grace and favor. Sheldon offers a nice counterpoint through the skepticism of Raymond's lead editor, a non-Christian and non-churchgoer, who sets the story line of the book. Sheldon also extends the mystery and realism of his fictional idea by effective omission—the use of third-person accounts, and the technique of delaying and limiting first-hand quotations for more than half of the book to onlookers' descriptions of what they saw. There is also a demure and rapid love story between two characters, blessed by Jesus.

This sequel has a slightly more contemporary feel than In His Steps, in that this cast includes characters who openly declare opposing aims and a mean-spirited skepticism of Christ. By playing its own devil's advocate, through voiced skepticism, and keeping the plot more uncertain, the book and its conflicts become more interesting. A Christian might read the story simply to find out how long the fiction of a fleshly Christ, even of the late 1800s / early 1900s, can be sustained. Issues do gradually emerge through the book that date it, however; the book embodies strong Prohibitionist and Temperance views on tobacco, alcohol, college fraternities, and other questions of the period that do not reflect prevailing contemporary approaches to those issues.

Sheldon's sequel, Jesus is Here, was quite controversial in its day. The author's own foreword to the book alludes to some of the controversy. Possible conflicts by fellow Christian believers might include:

• The book references the Holy Spirit 18 times as essential to walking in Christ's steps to make social reform, a requirement anti- and non-Christian reformists may object to.
• The book makes no mention of the Antichrist, who the Bible mentions in the New Testament books of Revelation, 1 John, and 2 John. Other Christian books, notably Frank Peretti's The Visitation (1999), ponder through fiction what an anti-Christ type of visitation might look like on a smaller scale. In Jesus Is Here, a question emerges for the reader: "Who is this man?" and "Why wouldn't he be a fraud?"