Through the serenity of a summer’s afternoon in the High Street, a loud voice blasts a religious message. People’s steps speed up as they hurry past. They are irritated, bored, anything but engaged with the message. Does that sound like a familiar scenario to you, whether in a reality you’ve seen or in your mind’s eye?
For this article, I was given the title: Doing open-air evangelism well. This suggests it is possible to do it poorly. I recently asked people’s views of open-air evangelism on social media and received fifty responses; some recognised it as a helpful way of sharing the gospel, while others (including Christians) were convinced it does more harm than good, largely consisting of angry men shouting at bemused passers-by.
Though I live near the other end of the M4, I assume many readers will live closer to Blackwood, South Wales, than Reading and will know of the town’s famous sons, the Manic Street Preachers. Sadly, manic and harmful is the way some people perceive open-air evangelism. That doesn’t have to be the case, and in this article, I want to give a brief overview, based on my experience, of how open-air evangelism can be done well.
Why do open-air evangelism?
Open-air evangelism is one way churches and believers can take the message of the gospel beyond those we already know to those we don’t know, who need to know Jesus. In Romans 10:13-15, Paul reminds us that people need to call on the Lord Jesus to be saved. He then reasons back from this that, to call on him, they must hear of him; to hear of him, someone must declare him to them; and for that person to declare Jesus, they must be sent.
Every Christian is a witness, to show God’s love by the life they live at all times, and speak of his love by their words whenever they can. Much of this will be done with those we know. However, since not everyone has Christian friends and family, and since God does not want anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:3-9), we cannot limit telling his gospel to those we know. Open-air evangelism is one way to tell those who are strangers to us, but loved by God, of the grace and truth found in his Son.
I am involved in an open-air outreach each month in Reading, the town where I live. Since Reading is a busy town centre, we have lots of footfall. In a quiet town or village, open-air work can still be a great witness to the Lord Jesus, though it probably won’t take the same form that I speak about.
Below, I will speak about different ways we share the gospel. Must all these aspects be in place for open-air work to be done well? Not at all! Indeed, there may be other aspects you feel would be helpful to include that I haven’t spoken about here.
Preaching
Open-air preaching is different from pulpit preaching, even pulpit preaching that is addressed primarily to unbelievers. In the street, some people may be there throughout the talk, many may stop for a couple of minutes, and many more will perhaps hear twenty seconds in passing.
What does this mean for the way we preach? It is better to be succinct; we aim for ten minutes. While in a church service, we expect that people are there to hear God’s Word preached; we cannot expect that in the open air. Our use of language is important, and being visually engaging is helpful too. The Open Air Mission (OAM) makes use of boards so that pictures relating to the talk can be displayed. I have seen these help draw attention, and the very presence of an OAM board gives an air of officiality to open-air preaching, making the preacher look more like someone with an important message. Other members of a team standing around listening, and ready to engage listeners when they move away from the preaching, also helps with this.
We want to keep to the fundamentals of the gospel, not chase down rabbit holes or ride hobby horses. If people are only going to hear a couple of minutes, we would far rather they hear something of the gospel than our opinion on the latest news story. Perhaps we could structure a talk around those main aspects of the gospel: God’s good creation; humanity’s fall into sin; Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection; and the certain hope of heaven for all who entrust themselves to him.
In doing so, we will want to remember that we are not speaking to people with many years of reading the Bible and listening to preaching. We will want to be as plain as possible, using simple language and vivid illustrations. While in a pulpit, we may move along in a linear sense, I would suggest in open-air preaching it is helpful to be more cyclical. Wherever we are in our talk, we will want to keep cycling back to the very centre of the gospel: God’s love in sending Christ to die and rise again to bring us back to him. If someone hears only one minute of a talk, I want them to hear something about God’s love in Jesus, since it is God’s kindness which is meant to lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). I don’t avoid the subject of our sin or God’s judgment, but I try to quickly return to God’s love shown in Jesus.
Book table
We want to have helpful books and booklets pointing people to Jesus: individual gospels are a wonderful resource for this, and other helpful books on a range of issues. Less is more; too many different books can be overwhelming. It is helpful to have somebody at the table to gently guide the person to resources that will be helpful for that individual, and perhaps link them up with a church.
Personal conversations
Personal conversations might come from someone walking away from the preaching after listening for a time, someone showing interest in some literature they have been given, or through directly approaching someone. They will want to point to Jesus and his gospel, and perhaps link an individual up with a local church or ministry. For example, if they have a young child, could they be invited to a toddler group?
Compared to preaching, the one-to-one worker will be able to spend more time listening to an individual. This will help that person know that they are loved, and may help the Christian show ways that the gospel speaks into their specific life and situation.
Leafleting
Hopefully, any believer can give a smile and offer a leaflet sharing something of the gospel to passers-by. The church I serve has found it helpful to produce a double-sided leaflet which shares something of the gospel, and gives details of our church services; something I would suggest as a possibility to churches considering open-air work.
Is the way we do open-air work perfect? Not at all! We make mistakes, and we need wisdom, boldness, and most of all the help of God’s Spirit! But by his grace, we are able to get the gospel out to those who don’t go to church or know Christians.
