Open-air preaching

Open-air preaching, street preaching or public preaching is the act of publicly proclaiming a religious message to crowds of people in open places. It is an ancient method of communicating a religious or social message, and has been used by many cultures and religious traditions but today is usually associated with Christian fundamentalism or evangelicalism.

Contents

History

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.[1][2]

Biblical examples also include that of the prophet Jonah, who reluctantly obeys the command of God to go to the city of Nineveh and preach "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4 KJV) Others include the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and Paul's speech to the Athenians in Acts 17.

Motives

Cited motives include:

  1. To glorify God.[3]
  2. To fulfill the command to preach and make God's word known.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ JOHN WESLEY.; G. Holden Pike's History of the Great Methodist and His Associates, New York Times
  2. ^ The first Great Awakening, Tony Cauchi, Jamaica Gleaner
  3. ^ a b The Motive for Open-Air Preaching at the Wayback Machine (archived November 13, 2007), American Gospel Missions Inc

External links