A minister (Kevin Sorbo) loses his wife and daughter to a greedy land-owner "The Colonel" (Wings Hauser). Following his wife's admonition to never seek vengeance, he instead becomes a bounty hunter. When he admonishes a rough-neck about his treatment of a floozy in the bar, the bad guy and his two friends, allied with The Colonel, give him a beating and toss him in the street.The Preacher is taken in by Maggie (Cynthia Watros), a woman with "a past" and a child. He stays in town after she offers to rent him her extra room, but she insists he give up his gun while at her home.The local sheriff, on The Colonel's payroll, is meanwhile trying to run some religious "squatters" off land they say they paid him for fair and square. The Sheriff's hirelings intimidate the squatters, roughing up several members. The Preacher learns of the Sheriff's and The Colonel's actions, and visits The Squatters led by Elijah (Jim Haynie). They tell him they paid for the land but never got the deed. A few days later the Sheriff's hirelings burn down a few of the Squatter's tents and during the raid kill Elijah.Neutral up to this point, The Preacher goes with the Sheriff to visit The Colonel. The Colonel tells The Preacher that his best characteristic is his greed. The Preacher turns down the offer of Cognac and leaves precipitously.Growing suspicious of The Preacher and his unstated alliances, the Sheriff sends three of his hirelings to send a message to The Preacher by roughing up Maggie. Still unarmed, he catches them in the act and reminds them how they ought to treat a woman. One of the bad guys catches The Preacher up close with his six-shooter; The Preacher turns that fellow's gun against one of his cohorts, who shoot each other, and Maggie nails the third fellow with a 2x4.The Sheriff arrives just in time to see the results. Maggie gives The Preacher his gun back, and he sets out to visit the Squatters. The Sheriff and a number of henchmen show up, set to run the Squatters out one last time. The Preacher, now armed, greets them. He tells the Sheriff that the (unarmed) Squatters have a right to stay. In the confrontation, with all of the bad guys' guns drawn, The Preacher shoots the sheriff. The rest of the bad guys meekly leave.The Preacher then pays a visit to the Colonel, from whom he obtains the deed for the Squatter's land. As he turns to leave, having satisfied his purpose for the visit, the Colonel tries to shoot The Preacher, who is quicker and kills the Colonel first. The Preacher returns to Maggie and her daughter.