After narrowly escaping a lynch mob, atheist gunslinger Ernie Parsons (Marjoe Gortner) steals the identity of a murdered preacher and takes his job in a western town. Ernie falls for the beautiful Sally Underwood (Pamela Sue Martin) and becomes attached to the town he's come to think of as his sanctuary. So when his new home is threatened by a tyrannical land baron, Ernie must use both his extensive skills as a gunfighter and his minimal skills as a preacher to defend the townspeople.