Does anyone know of a helpful guide to street preaching, or might anyone here offer substantial guidance (beyond the obvious)? An opportunity has arisen for me to do some of this type of ministry with our church, but I am inexperienced. I’m looking for something along the lines of a method.
Street Preaching Help
- Thread starter Taylor
- Start date
Message Rom who does street preaching if not every weekly, frequently. I'm sure he has gained some practical advice and may know of other resources. @kodos
Ray Comfort is probably the best known Open Air preacher. One has to treat aspects of his theology with great care but his gospel itself is very solid. He has a online course on evangelism and open air preaching. Two save cost you can buy the physical book which has 101 lessons on evangelism and open air preaching.
Zach
Puritan Board Senior
My former Pastor and good friend (and friend of your Pastor) Jeremiah Montgomery did some open air preaching during his ministry in State College on the Penn State campus. You may want to get his contact information and reach out to him about his experience. In particular, he did a good job trying to have a less confrontational demeanor than the so called "drive by" Preachers who weren't local but would come to campus periodically and try to whip up a crowd by being intentionally confrontational and even offensive and then leave and not come back. He did it every week during the semester for at least a few years.
Gavin Beers and @Parakaleo do street preaching regularly. Cornerstone Presbyterian has some videos on their FB page and you could contact Rev. Beers, or of course Rev. Law here on the PB, in addition to Rev. Rom.
Thanks. Yes, I know of him. Perhaps I will reach out. What you describe as being non-confrontational in our demeanor is exactly what we want. We couldn't care less about theatrics and crowds. The only confrontation we want is the confrontation between the sinner and God through his Word.
Gesetveemet
Puritan Board Sophomore
Look up “Street Preachers’ Manual by Gerald Sutek”
To my shame I have preached on the street neither being called, ordained or sent. I was fun though but I also thought I could “get-um saved”.
To my shame I have preached on the street neither being called, ordained or sent. I was fun though but I also thought I could “get-um saved”.
B.L.
Puritan Board Sophomore
Perhaps this book would be of help -- A Certain Sound: A Primer on Open Air Preaching.
While sold out at RHB it is available at other online retailers.
While sold out at RHB it is available at other online retailers.
Parakaleo
Puritan Board Sophomore
Some considerations on open air preaching learned (mostly) from others and from my own (somewhat limited) experience:
1. Go with minimal notes. Treat the preaching like a Scripture reading interspersed with simple explanations and earnest exhortations. Read lots of Scripture, whether one passage that you read through several times during preaching or chose 2 - 3 related passages to work through.
2. Few people will hear the preaching from start to finish, but many will hear 20 - 30 seconds as they pass by. Therefore, you will want your Gospel applications to repeat themselves throughout.
3. For illustration, I will try to think of something I observed or heard recently in the world, and use it as an example of unbelief, wrong understanding of the Gospel, opposition to Christ, etc. I will bring it up a few times in the preaching as a counterexample of true faith in Christ.
4. Use your outdoor voice. Some kind of amplification is highly recommended.
5. I wouldn't converse with anyone during the preaching. If anyone is shouting or being distracting, say you will be glad to answer whatever questions people may have afterwards.
6. Satan will oppose you in various ways and your own flesh will scream against you, but you must get those first words out and carry on in Christ's strength and for his glory. I have found it helpful to begin by simply greeting everyone and stating my purpose: "We are here because we love to proclaim the excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel for all to hear..."
1. Go with minimal notes. Treat the preaching like a Scripture reading interspersed with simple explanations and earnest exhortations. Read lots of Scripture, whether one passage that you read through several times during preaching or chose 2 - 3 related passages to work through.
2. Few people will hear the preaching from start to finish, but many will hear 20 - 30 seconds as they pass by. Therefore, you will want your Gospel applications to repeat themselves throughout.
3. For illustration, I will try to think of something I observed or heard recently in the world, and use it as an example of unbelief, wrong understanding of the Gospel, opposition to Christ, etc. I will bring it up a few times in the preaching as a counterexample of true faith in Christ.
4. Use your outdoor voice. Some kind of amplification is highly recommended.
5. I wouldn't converse with anyone during the preaching. If anyone is shouting or being distracting, say you will be glad to answer whatever questions people may have afterwards.
6. Satan will oppose you in various ways and your own flesh will scream against you, but you must get those first words out and carry on in Christ's strength and for his glory. I have found it helpful to begin by simply greeting everyone and stating my purpose: "We are here because we love to proclaim the excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel for all to hear..."
Andres
Puritan Board Doctor
If you can specify what area you would like advice in, perhaps we can answer more specifically, but here is my brief advice:
1) Get out and do it.
2) Research your location. Find a spot that will have high foot-traffic but not so overwhelming crowded, people won't be able to hear you. Research local ordinances in the area you will preach to ensure you aren't violating any local laws/ordinances and know exactly where you are allowed to stand.
3) Research if amplification is allowed. If it is, it is helpful to obviously project volume better and also saves your voice.
4) Preach pointed gospel passages. Preach from a physical bible in your hands. Preach on sin and hell, topics too often neglected in preaching these days. It may be the first time people have ever heard these subjects. Of course, preach up Christ for the only hope to escape God's wrath and judgment.
5) Go with others both for safety and so that others can engage passersby. If you are alone, the preaching would be interrupted every time someone wants to comment.
6) Be prepared to distribute literature/info on the gospel and on a local, biblical church to invite people to. Follow up if possible. Get names and emails. Pray for the people afterward.
7) My pastor uses a small step stool so he is elevated a bit. Not required but helpful.
1) Get out and do it.
2) Research your location. Find a spot that will have high foot-traffic but not so overwhelming crowded, people won't be able to hear you. Research local ordinances in the area you will preach to ensure you aren't violating any local laws/ordinances and know exactly where you are allowed to stand.
3) Research if amplification is allowed. If it is, it is helpful to obviously project volume better and also saves your voice.
4) Preach pointed gospel passages. Preach from a physical bible in your hands. Preach on sin and hell, topics too often neglected in preaching these days. It may be the first time people have ever heard these subjects. Of course, preach up Christ for the only hope to escape God's wrath and judgment.
5) Go with others both for safety and so that others can engage passersby. If you are alone, the preaching would be interrupted every time someone wants to comment.
6) Be prepared to distribute literature/info on the gospel and on a local, biblical church to invite people to. Follow up if possible. Get names and emails. Pray for the people afterward.
7) My pastor uses a small step stool so he is elevated a bit. Not required but helpful.
Jerusalem Blade
Puritan Board Professor
I apprenticed myself to a street preacher (subway, actually) in NYC, until I had the confidence and courage to slowly start doing it myself. I would say, always try to have at least another person with you. Jesus sent His men out two by two.
itsreed
Puritan Board Freshman
- Review Spurgeon sermons; use him as a model, but much shorter.
- Each sermon should be no longer than 5 minutes, 3 minutes is better, 2 minutes is ideal (yes, this is realistic. do it regularly). Most folks who will hear you are not in a static position, but will be moving by you; a shorter sermon that hits the gospel (see next point) will give them a "full" witness.
- Hit three topics only: sin, Savior, salvation (this is Spurgeon's model); from anywhere in the Scripture, make a beeline to these points.
- Read the Scripture (a short passage), then preach the Scripture
- Stand on some sort of box (I use a folding step stool); the elevation will help your voice carry further.
- Speak as loud as you can without shouting or fading at the end of sentences.
- Do not engage hecklers, especially do not engage with 'in your facers" (another reason to preach from an elevated position); instead, have a partner (with whom you take turns preaching) prepared to step in and engage hecklers (IYF), by stepping off to the side to talk with them.
- While Ray Comfort's gospel presentation (law/gospel) is good, his street preaching videos mostly show a model you DO NOT want to follow. I.e., his engaging with another person is not street preaching; it is 1-to-1 witnessing elevated for others to watch/listen. This is not criticism of Ray's method; just the observation that it is not street "preaching" (he does do some of that, and is quite good).
- Pray!!! Before, during, while your partner is on the box, after, and later that night when you wake up. Pray!!!
Rom
Puritan Board Junior
@Taylor , I am not supposed to be on the PB for the sake of my own time constraints! But I will jump on briefly since I was tagged (thanks @NaphtaliPress
). Feel free to message me if you want more information, email me at pastor at dallasrpc.org. There has been good guidance given here in this thread as I read it now. @Andres covered several of the points from our practice at DRPC. I am always grateful to have his support as well as the support of many members of the congregation when we go out.In your preaching, every second counts as souls are walking by. In addition to the good counsel other men have given you on pointed gospel messages, also focus on the glory of Christ in your preaching. This is often neglected, and I do believe the Lord honors it when you lift up His Son publicly, to speak of the riches found in Christ.
I will also second what Blake said - give a short introduction as to why you are there. Show them as well that you are there to serve the community. We offer free Bibles and a time of prayer with members of the congregation for those interested. Many have taken us up on these offers. This also puts a distinction between you and the agitators who are often the street preachers in the community. Make sure that pleading on God's behalf is a part of the gospel proclamation (2 Corinthians 5:20). Do not come with notes - I just come with a list of Scriptures and a one sentence theme out of each of them. You want to be directly preaching to the crowds and also be sensitive to any of the circumstances that warrant the message addressing them directly.
Learn to project your voice well if you have not already - I know that when I began I was used to having amplification in the pulpit and I did not project as well as I should have. Now, even though the local city ordinance prohibits our personal amplification system I can project well enough without it with just my bare voice and keep at it for the 1.5 hours or so that I preach (though with short prayer / psalm singing breaks).
Also, keep at it, brother! Do not grow discouraged or grow weary in this. Your flesh might cause you to at first - but I also suspect the Lord will grant you a blessing as you step out in faith to do this. I am encouraged to hear you undertake this - I will pray now for your labors for the Lord.
One last encouragement - I believe that street preaching has made me a better preacher in the pulpit. For what that is worth. It also sharpens your ability to communicate gospel truths.
I will add another recommendation for "A Certain Sound". It is a helpful little book. I am "friends" with Ryan Denton on FB and it is encouraging to see him out constantly.
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jambo
Puritan Board Senior
I have done a fair bit of open air preaching and have a few observations if this helps. In no particular order:
1. DO NOT use a loudspeaker. Using a loud speaker annoys people particularly those who work in nearby shops. It also means if anyone is listening, they will just listen from further away.
2. DO NOT shout. Speak loudly enough for people to hear but do not shout at them.
3. Sermons should be short and simple. Most people just pass by or if they do stop only do so for a few minutes. Remember that theological terms may be be familiar to church people but to the vast majority of people such terms are like foreign expressions.
4. Have a team around you who can engage with hecklers or just chat to folk in the crowd.
5. I found using a sketch board was very helpful. It is simple and visual and you do not need to be an artist to use it.
6. Be ready for anything. Folk will shout out questions and you need to answer wisely and graciously se be ready to think on your feet and be careful of those who will lead you on and try to trap you.
6. There were three locations I did it in:
a. Town centre on a Saturday afternoon. Always quite difficult and very little interest shown. Very few people stopped to listen.
b. The market place. A lot of Irish towns have a weekly or monthly market and I enjoyed this environment. In a town centre people are rushing about shopping whereas an open air market is more relaxed and people just wander about and be more inclined to to stop and listen. Because it was always the same stall holders I used to wander around the stalls chatting to the stall holder and over time building up friendships.
c. The town square late at night. We used to go out around 11:00pm and begin to preach. Within moments we would have a big crowd around us and what started off as a sermon became a question and answer session. It was good to have a good team around me who would engage with those in the crowd around them. This would go on until about 2:00am and I thought those times were just fantastic. From evenings such was those, evangelistic bible studies developed. This late night option would be my preferred time and place.
7. Remember you have no idea the effects of your words. You are the sower casting your seed which a lot will fall amongst the weeds and nettles or fall on shallow or stoney ground. But there is also the good soil the seed falls into producing a harvest 50, 60 and 100 times what was sown. It was always my conviction that even on the coldest and most miserable of Saturday afternoons where absolutely no one stopped to listen there was good soil somewhere that seed fell into.
Just a few observations and I will probably think up more later. But go for it!
1. DO NOT use a loudspeaker. Using a loud speaker annoys people particularly those who work in nearby shops. It also means if anyone is listening, they will just listen from further away.
2. DO NOT shout. Speak loudly enough for people to hear but do not shout at them.
3. Sermons should be short and simple. Most people just pass by or if they do stop only do so for a few minutes. Remember that theological terms may be be familiar to church people but to the vast majority of people such terms are like foreign expressions.
4. Have a team around you who can engage with hecklers or just chat to folk in the crowd.
5. I found using a sketch board was very helpful. It is simple and visual and you do not need to be an artist to use it.
6. Be ready for anything. Folk will shout out questions and you need to answer wisely and graciously se be ready to think on your feet and be careful of those who will lead you on and try to trap you.
6. There were three locations I did it in:
a. Town centre on a Saturday afternoon. Always quite difficult and very little interest shown. Very few people stopped to listen.
b. The market place. A lot of Irish towns have a weekly or monthly market and I enjoyed this environment. In a town centre people are rushing about shopping whereas an open air market is more relaxed and people just wander about and be more inclined to to stop and listen. Because it was always the same stall holders I used to wander around the stalls chatting to the stall holder and over time building up friendships.
c. The town square late at night. We used to go out around 11:00pm and begin to preach. Within moments we would have a big crowd around us and what started off as a sermon became a question and answer session. It was good to have a good team around me who would engage with those in the crowd around them. This would go on until about 2:00am and I thought those times were just fantastic. From evenings such was those, evangelistic bible studies developed. This late night option would be my preferred time and place.
7. Remember you have no idea the effects of your words. You are the sower casting your seed which a lot will fall amongst the weeds and nettles or fall on shallow or stoney ground. But there is also the good soil the seed falls into producing a harvest 50, 60 and 100 times what was sown. It was always my conviction that even on the coldest and most miserable of Saturday afternoons where absolutely no one stopped to listen there was good soil somewhere that seed fell into.
Just a few observations and I will probably think up more later. But go for it!
Gesetveemet
Puritan Board Sophomore
Question should the below statement be considered before someone gets a hankering to preach on the street Y/N?
The Word of God is to be preached only by such as are sufficiently gifted, and also duly approved and called to that office.
.
The Word of God is to be preached only by such as are sufficiently gifted, and also duly approved and called to that office.
.
Polanus1561
Puritan Board Senior
Bit off topic as Taylor is a licentiate to preach I believe.
I would also add a wonderful book, although written in a different era, that warms the heart for evangelism is Spurgeon's classic 'The Soul Winner'.
Gesetveemet
Puritan Board Sophomore
Okay my bad