View source for Open-air preaching

{{Short description|Public proselytization of a religious message to crowds of people in open places}}
[[File:Man_holding_Bible_and_sporting_Jesus_Saves_sign_on_his_hat.jpg|thumb|upright|Street preacher in [[Los Angeles, California]], 1972]]
'''Open-air preaching''', '''street preaching''', or '''public preaching''' is the act of [[evangelism|evangelizing]] a [[religious]] faith in public places. It is an ancient method of [[proselytism|proselytizing]] a religious or social message and has been used by many cultures and religious traditions, but today it is usually associated with [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] [[Protestantism|Protestant]] Christianity. Supporters of this approach note that [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]]<ref name="Spurgeon, Pg. 234" /> and many of the [[Old Testament]] prophets often preached about [[God in Abrahamic religions|God]] in public places.<ref name="Spurgeon"/> It is one of the oldest approaches to evangelism.<ref name="Spurgeon, Pg. 234">Spurgeon, p. 234</ref>

==In the Bible==
[[File:Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A representative painting of [[Jesus Christ]] delivering the open-air [[Sermon on the Mount]]]]
One of the earliest open-air preachers of Christianity, according to the [[gospels]], was Jesus Christ, whose first specifically recorded sermon was the [[Sermon on the Mount]],<ref name="Spurgeon, Pg. 234" /><ref name=Spurgeon>http://www.biblebelievers.com/StreetPreaching2.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410185730/http://biblebelievers.com/StreetPreaching2.html |date=2007-04-10 }} "OPEN-AIR PREACHING, A SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY AND REMARKS THEREON", [[Charles H. Spurgeon]].</ref> which took place on a mountainside in the open air.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205%3A1&version=NIV|title=Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 5:1 - New International Version|website=Bible Gateway}}</ref> In the [[Gospel of Luke]] ({{bibleref2|Luke|6:17–49}}), it was recorded that Jesus also gave an open-air sermon known as the [[Sermon on the Plain]].<ref name="Spurgeon"/> In Mark 16:15, street preaching is seen as a commandment from Jesus as a way to warn people about sins and their consequences. This is supported by [[Isaiah]] 58:1 and [[Jeremiah]] 2:2.<ref>{{cite web |title=Beginner's Discipleship Class 13c : Why Street Preaching is Biblical |url=https://realbiblebelievers.com/beginners-discipleship-class-13c-streetpreaching-and-why-it-is-biblical/ |website=Real Bible Believers |date=29 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What is Biblical Street Evangelism? - Right Biblical Street Evangelism |url=https://www.conformingtojesus.com/what_is_biblical_street_evangelism.htm |website=www.conformingtojesus.com |language=en}}</ref>

After Jesus' death and resurrection, many of his [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] and followers started street preaching [[the gospel]] in the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple of Jerusalem]] and in other open spaces.<ref name="Spurgeon, Pg. 234"/><ref name="Spurgeon"/> 

The [[Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry]] lists the "many examples of street preaching in the Bible" as including Noah, Solomon, Ezra, Jeremiah, Jonah, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, Peter, Paul, Phillip and Apollos.<ref>Tony Miano/Matt Slick, "Are There Examples of Street Preaching in the Bible?" ''Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry'' http://www.carm.org/biblical-examples-street-preaching {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017001358/https://carm.org/biblical-examples-street-preaching |date=2017-10-17 }}</ref>

==Middle Ages and Reformation==
Open-air preaching was used by [[mendicant orders]] in the [[High Middle Ages]] to initiate a renewal of religious fervor among [[Catholics]], and to fight heretical movements such as [[Catharism]] in southern France. Later, during the [[Protestant Reformation]], it was often employed by [[Protestants]] throughout [[Europe]]<ref>Spurgeon, p. 235</ref> who could not always preach inside churches, which were mostly Catholic.<ref>Spurgeon, p. 236</ref> Open-air preaching in Europe continued during the rise of [[Puritan]]ism and other Protestant movements.<ref name="Spurgeon"/> It was often used in [[Pastoral]] environments as well as in cities, the former sometimes due to a desire to avoid the authorities,<ref>Spurgeon, p. 241</ref> and the latter because, for one reason, it could reach eccentric people living in cities who would not otherwise hear the gospel.<ref>Spurgeon, p. 257</ref>

==Evangelical Revivals==
{{See also|Revival meeting|Great Awakening}}
[[File:Camp meeting of the Methodists in N. America J. Milbert del M. Dubourg sculp (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Methodist]] preachers were known for promulgating the doctrines of the [[Born again#Methodism|new birth]] and [[entire sanctification]] to the public at events such as [[tent revival]]s and [[camp meeting]]s, which they believe is the reason that God raised them up into existence.<ref name="Gibson">{{cite web|url=https://ucmpage.org/sgca/wesley01.htm|title=Wesleyan Heritage Series: Entire Sanctification|last=Gibson|first=James|publisher=South Georgia Confessing Association|language=en|access-date=30 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529053529/http://ucmpage.org/sgca/wesley01.htm|archive-date=29 May 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
[[File:GloryLife_Schlossplatz_GeorgKarl_ErlebeGott.jpg|thumb|A street preacher in Germany, 2022]]

Early [[Methodist]] preachers [[John Wesley]] and [[George Whitefield]] preached in the open air, which allowed them to attract crowds larger than most buildings could accommodate.<ref>[http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060805/news/news4.html  The first Great Awakening] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125224635/http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060805/news/news4.html |date=2010-01-25 }}, Tony Cauchi, [[Gleaner Company|Jamaica Gleaner]]</ref> On one occasion when Wesley was forbidden to preach inside the church in his hometown, [[Epworth, Lincolnshire|Epworth]], he used his father's tombstone in the churchyard as a [[pulpit]].<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A0DE2DA1739E433A25756C2A9619C946297D6CF JOHN WESLEY.; G. Holden Pike's History of the Great Methodist and His Associates], [[New York Times]]</ref>

Open-air preachers throughout history have often noted that preaching to large crowds often causes preachers to be abused in certain ways, even having objects thrown at them such as rotting vegetables or unsanitary liquids of many varieties.<ref>Spurgeon, Pg. 250</ref> It was said that one of the regular practices of American evangelist [[Dwight L. Moody]] in the late 1860s "was to exhort the passersby in the evenings from the steps of the court house. Often these impromptu gatherings drew as many hecklers as supporters."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soulwinning.info/sp/lessons/02.htm |title=A History Of Street Preaching |publisher=Soulwinning.info |accessdate=2013-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822212036/http://www.soulwinning.info/sp/lessons/02.htm |archive-date=2012-08-22 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the late 19th century and early-to-mid 20th century many famous open-air preachers in the United States began to preach, such as [[Billy Graham]] and [[Billy Sunday]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/special/131christians/sunday.html|title=Billy Sunday Salty evangelist|website= ChristianityToday.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070215170331/http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/special/131christians/sunday.html |archive-date=2007-02-15 }}</ref> Graham in particular used a combination of open-air preaching and the recent advent of [[televangelism]] to broadcast his sermons, which often took place in large venues such as stadiums, to large portions of the world and millions of Americans.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/graham_billy.html |title=Lee, R. "The History Guy: The Reverend Billy Graham" |access-date=2007-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113205432/http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/graham_billy.html |archive-date=2007-01-13 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Charles Spurgeon]], the famous open-air Baptist preacher of England, believed that open-air preaching was instrumental in getting people to hear the gospel who might otherwise never hear it,<ref name="Spurgeon"/><ref>Spurgeon, p. 255</ref> and today, open-air preachers such as [[Ray Comfort]] believe that it reaches many more people at once than other approaches to evangelism do.<ref>"The Evidence Bible", [[Ray Comfort]], Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2003, p. 1183</ref>

==Notable open-air preachers==
===Historic===
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*[[Saint John the Baptist]]
*[[Saint Dominic]]
*[[Saint Francis of Assisi]]
*[[Saint Anthony of Padua]]
*[[Saint Vincent Ferrer]]
*[[William Booth]]
*[[D. L. Moody]]
*[[Charles Spurgeon]]
*[[John Wesley]]
*[[George Whitefield]]
*[[George Wishart]]
}}

===Active in the 21st century===
*[[Micah Armstrong]]
*[[Jed Smock]]
*[[Ray Comfort]]
*[[Samuel Chambers]] (State Street Preacher)
*[[Reinhard Bonnke]]
*[[David Grisham]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* [[Charles Haddon Spurgeon]], "[[Lectures to My Students]]", Zondervan publishing house, 1977, Eighth printing, {{ISBN|0-310-32910-8}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Open-air preaching}}
*[https://carm.org/street-preaching/ Street Preaching Training, Tips, and Information, Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry]
*[https://www.oamission.com The Open Air Mission]

{{Evangelicalism in the United States}}


[[Category:Open-air preaching| ]]
[[Category:Evangelical Christian missions]]
[[Category:Homiletics]]