Keith Beckingham, superintendent minister of Christchurch and Lymington Circuit invites us to look again at open air ministry.

It was at an open-air meeting as a child that I became a member of the Sunday School. Later, my preacher training in London included open air preaching at Brixton market and West End ‘stands’ including one near the Windmill Theatre. Open-air ministry is less evident these days but it has been a normal expression of Christian faith since New Testament times. I suggest it is worth considering afresh today.

Preaching in the open air was key to Jesus’ ministry – and it was probably impromptu. For example, after feeding the 5000, we find Jesus teaching from a boat. When he sends out the Twelve, Jesus tells them to preach the message that the Kingdom of heaven is near as they go.

‘Going out’ is a feature of discipleship, particularly noticed by the crowds in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit-filled disciples took to the streets. Paul did preach at first in the synagogue but there are many accounts of him seizing the moment and preaching in the open air, for example at Philippi and Athens.

Methodism began in a similar way, with John Wesley moving outside as pulpits were closed to him – even at Epworth, his family home. If, today, we are circumspect about outdoor preaching, then Wesley had similar feelings. In his journal for 2 April 1739 he records: ‘At 4 in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining the city [Bristol], to about three thousand people.’

Early Methodist Preachers were keen to follow in the footsteps of John Wesley. This was true of the Bible Christians who were particularly associated with Devon & Cornwall1. In recent times, newspapers have delighted in reporting apparently overzealous Community Police Support Officers disrupting open air evangelism on British streets. An example of overly zealous public officialdom is found in the story of William Gibbs (c.1820) who was committed to Winchester Prison for open air preaching. He was not freed for 9 weeks until a judge in chambers released him, ordering the magistrate who had convicted him to apologise and give him £60 damages. This money was used to build a chapel and magistrates became rather more careful afterwards!2

The Primitive Methodists also made a considerable contribution to the story of open air preaching. In the early days, their preachers were sometimes persecuted by members of the establishment, who used the village pond, the tar brush and the fire engine as weapons against them3.

William Booth, a minister of the Methodist New Connexion, founded the Salvation Army in 1865. In Booth’s own ministry, open air preaching played a vital role – and, in the organisation he led, it continues to do so.

Lord Soper was arguably the 20th Century’s greatest exponent of open air preaching in England. From 1926 he preached in the open air at Tower Hill, and from 1942 at Hyde Park Corner.
The theme of a Pentecost celebration organised by Share Jesus International and held at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster in 2008 was “The Church has left the building”. This reminds us that the people are the Church. When we go from our churches in the power of the Holy Spirit to serve the Lord, we go with Christ’s command to preach the gospel of God’s love in God’s world.

I suggest that a rediscovery of open air preaching – with its public place, ‘spur of the moment’ and ‘on the way’ characteristics, could be one of the fresh expressions of Church that helps revitalise faith and worship in Britain today.

What experience do you have of open air ministry? Does it require additional skills? Do you think open air preaching has a positive part to play in mission and ministry today? Please email or write to the Editor with your experiences and views.

1     Cyril J. Davey The Methodist Story (1955) p.69 ff Chapters 6 & 7
2     Davey 1955:79
3     ibid: 118