open-air preaching

File:Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg 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,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. which took place on a mountainside in the open air.{{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}} 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. 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.{{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}}{{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}}

After Jesus' death and resurrection, many of his apostles and followers started street preaching the gospel in the Temple of Jerusalem and in other open spaces.

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.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

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 EuropeSpurgeon, p. 235 who could not always preach inside churches, which were mostly Catholic.Spurgeon, p 236 Open-air preaching in Europe continued during the rise of Puritanism and other Protestant movements. It was often used in Pastoral environments as well as in cities, the former sometimes due to a desire to avoid the authorities,Spurgeon, p. 241 and the latter because, for one reason, it could reach eccentric people living in cities who would not otherwise hear the gospel.Spurgeon, p. 257

{{See also|Revival meeting|Great Awakening}}

File:Camp meeting of the Methodists in N. America J. Milbert del M. Dubourg sculp (cropped).jpg preachers were known for promulgating the doctrines of the new birth and entire sanctification to the public at events such as tent revivals and camp meetings, which they believe is the reason that God raised them up into existence.{{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}}]]

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.[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, Jamaica Gleaner On one occasion when Wesley was forbidden to preach inside the church in his hometown, Epworth, he used his father's tombstone in the churchyard as a pulpit.[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

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.Spurgeon, Pg. 250 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."{{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 }}

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.{{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 }} 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.{{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 }}

File:GloryLife_Schlossplatz_GeorgKarl_ErlebeGott.jpg

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,Spurgeon, p. 255 and today, open-air preachers such as Ray Comfort believe that it reaches many more people at once than other approaches to evangelism do."The Evidence Bible", Ray Comfort, Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2003, p. 1183

{{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

}}

• Micah Armstrong
• Jed Smock
• Ray Comfort
• Samuel Chambers (State Street Preacher)
• Reinhard Bonnke
• David Grisham

{{reflist|2}}

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

{{Commons category|Open-air preaching}}

• [http://www.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:Evangelical Christian missions

Category:Homiletics