Faces From The Past

Street Preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Born in Kelvedon, Essex (1834-92) was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. His father and grandfather were both Independent pastors, with roots in both the Dutch and English Dissenting traditions. At age 20 he became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The

congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. Charles was forced by circumstance he preached unprepared his first sermon in a cottage at Teversham near Cambridge, at the age of sixteen. His gifts were recognized at once and his fame spread. He preached in chapels, cottages, or in the open air in as many as thirteen stations in the villages surrounding Cambridge, and this after his school duties. This said of Charles regarding preaching out doors:

“If I were utterly selfish and had no care for anything but my own happiness, I would choose, if I might under God, to be a soul winner, for never did I know perfect overflowing, unuterable happiness of the purest and most ennobling order till I first heard of one who had sought and found the Saviour through my means.”

“It would be very easy to prove that revivals of religion have usually been accompanied, if

not caused, by a considerable amount of preaching out of doors, or in unusual places.”

“No sort of defense is needed for preaching out of doors, but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man had done his duty who has never preached beyond the walls of his meeting-house. A defense is required for services within buildings than for worship outside of them.”

On the value of Open-Air Preaching: “It is the very back-bone of the movement to win the non-church-going element. The more of it the better, the more of it the better, - the whole world around!”

“Glorious were those great gatherings in the fields and commons which lasted throughout the long period in which Wesley and Whitefield blessed our nation. Field preaching was the wild note of the birds singing in the trees, in testimony that the true spring-time of religion had come. Birds in cages may sing more sweetly, perhaps, but their music is not so natural, nor so sure a pledge of the coming summer. It was a blessed day when

Methodists and others began to proclaim Jesus in open air; then were the gates of hell shaken, and the captives of the devil were set free by hundreds and thousands.”

Open-air Preacher Dr. David Livingstone

(1813-1873), was a curious combination of Scottish missionary, doctor, explorer, scientist and anti-slavery activist. He spent 30 years in Africa, exploring almost a third of the continent, from its southern tip almost to the equator. “I am a missionary, heart and soul,” wrote Livingstone. “God had an only Son, and

He was a missionary and a physician. A poor, poor imitation of Him I am, or wish to be. In this service I hope to live; in it I wish to die.” From the moment of his landing on African soil, Livingstone is haunted, night and day, by the visions that beckon and the voices that call from out of the undiscovered. For his poor wife's sake he tries hard, and tries repeatedly, to settle down to the life of an ordinary mission station. But it is impossible.

Public Crier George Fox

Fox was born at Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire, England. By 1648 Fox began to exercise his ministry publicly: he would

preach in market-places, in the fields, in appointed meetings of various kinds, or even sometimes in “steeple-houses.” Fox's preaching was grounded in scripture, but mainly effective because of the intense personal experience he was able to project. He was scathing about contemporary morality, and urged his listeners to lead lives without sin. Finding no help from men, Fox gave up seeking from that source. So with the Bible as his guide, he began looking to the Lord alone for help walking bare-footed through the crowded market at Litchfield, England, this man in the leather suit upraised his hands and voice, shouting, "Woe unto Litchfield, thou bloody city! Woe unto Litchfield!" He feared neither man nor the consequences of his tirade. Shut out of churches, George Fox made a stone his pulpit and preached to the crowds in the streets. Taken from the street meeting to the jail, he made the jail a cathedral to declare the wonderful works of God.

Street Preacher Dwight Lyman Moody

(February 5, 1837 - December 22, 1899) Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts known as America’s evangelist. At age 17 he moved to Boston to work in his uncle's shoe store, heard the gospel and attended Church. Moody moved to Chicago in September, 1856, where he joined the Plymouth Congregational Church, and began to take an active part in the prayer meetings. In the spring of 1857, he began to minister to the welfare of the sailors in Chicago's port, then gamblers and thieves in the saloons. He was fond of

treating Bible characters very familiarly and enlivening his sermons by imaginary conversations with and between them. He preached often abrupt, sometimes brisk. He had no polish, small education, but he knew the English Bible and accepted it literally. He loved street ministry, he wrote “One of his regular practices in the late sixties was to exhort the passersby in the evenings from the steps of the court house. Often these impromptu gathering drew as many hecklers as supporters.”

Emma Revell MoodyBorn in London in 1842, her family immigrated to Chicago in 1849, when she was

only seven. After graduating from high school, she taught briefly, and in 1862 she married D. L. Moody. The Lord blessed them with several children. Emma served with her husband in Sunday school work and evangelistic campaigns, doing much of his correspondence. Emma was as quiet as her husband was flamboyant. Emma outlived her husband only four years and died in 1903 after 37 years of being a helpmate.

Street Preacher George Whitfield

Whitfield was born at the Bell Inn, Southgate Street, Gloucester in England (December 16, 1714 – September 30, 1770), also known as

the traveling Anglican minister who was used to spread the Great Awakening. In 1738, before going to America, he and John Wesley to preach in the open-air for the first time at Kingswood and then Blackheath, London. Whitfield drew crowds of 20,000 to hear him and in Cambuslang drew an estimated 30,000 people. Benjamin Franklin once attended a revival meeting in Philadelphia and was greatly impressed with Whitefield's ability to deliver a message. Franklin wrote of Whitfield, “He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his words and sentences so perfectly, that he might be heard and understood at a great distance, I concluded that if each person were allow'd two square feet, I computed that he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand people.”

George Whitfield said of Street Preaching, “Finding the pulpits are denied me, and the poor colliers are ready to perish for lack of knowledge, I went to them, and preached on a mount to upwards of 200. Blessed be God, that the ice is now broken, and I have now taken the field... I thought it might be doing the service of my Creator, who had a

mountain for His pulpit, and the heavens for His sounding board: and who, when the gospel was refused by the Jews, sent His servants into the highways and hedges.” "I believe I never was more acceptable to my Master than when I was standing to teach those hearers in the open fields." And "I now preach to ten times more people than I should, if had been confined to the Churches.”

Public Proclaimer William Booth

Booth was born in Sneinton, Nottingham, England (10 April 1829 – 20 August 1912) was a British Methodist preacher who founded the

Salvation Army which was founded in 1865, and spread from London, England, to many parts of the world and is known for being one of the largest distributors of humanitarian aid.In 1849 as a lay preacher William took to open-air evangelizing in the streets and on Kennington Common. He soon became an independent evangelist. His doctrine remained much the same as the Methodist congregation he walked away from. He faithfully preached that eternal punishment was the fate of those who do not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the necessity of repentance from sin, and the promise of holiness. Booth's success attracted not only supporters but also enemies. Those who served in the Army were pelted with hot coals, sprayed with tar and burning sulphur, beat, stoned and even kicked to death in the streets. The Salvation Army resisted their enemies with a cheerful “God bless you”, and a prayer. The Salvation Army, modeled in some ways after the military, with its own flag (or colors) and its own music, he (Booth) became the “General” and his other ministers were given appropriate ranks as “officers”.

Booth said regarding outdoor preaching:“I may say that a large proportion of the successes of the Salvation Army has been due, in my estimation, humanly, to our open-air operations. ... in the ordinary course of things, we should have, you will easily see, no chance without open-air work.”

Catherine Booth

Catherine Booth was the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. Born Catherine Mumford in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England on January 17 1829. They were married on 16 June 1855 at Stockwell Green Congregational Church in London. Their

wedding was very simple, as they wanted to use their time and money for his ministry. The Booths had eight children and Catherine was very active with their ministry. On 4 October 1890 she died in William's arms with her family around her.

Aiden Wilson Tozer

Not ashamed of the Gospel Aiden Wilson Tozer born April 21, 1897 aka A W Tozer. As a teenage boy in Akron, Ohio while on his way home from work at a tire company, he

overheard a street preacher say: “If you don't know how to be saved... just call on God.” Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice. Considered a modern day prophet, exhorted the Church to acknowledge Jesus. A prolific author and pastor, gone to be with the Lord May 12, 1963.

William Ashley “Billy” Sunday

William Ashley “Billy” Sunday born November 19, 1862. An American athlete who after

being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century. Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some years in an orphanage before working at odd jobs and playing for local running and baseball teams. One afternoon in Chicago Sunday and several of his teammates were out on the town for their day off. And at one street corner they stopped to listen to a street preacher preaching and singing. Attracted by the hymns he had heard his mother sing, Sunday began attending services at the mission. Following his conversion, Sunday denounced drinking, swearing, and gambling, and his changed behavior was recognized by both teammates and fans. Sunday shortly thereafter began speaking in churches and at YMCA. 1891, Sunday turned down a baseball contract for $3,000 a year in order to accept a position with the Chicago YMCA at $83 per month. Billy was known for his style of preaching, he would spin, rotate around the pulpit, run from one end of the platform to the other and dive across the stage, pretending to

slide into home plate. Sometimes he even smashed chairs to emphasize his points. His sermon notes had to be printed in large letters so that he could catch a glimpse of them as he raced by the pulpit. In messages attacking sexual sin to groups of men only, Billy could be graphic for that era. He died on November 6, 1935 a week after preaching his last sermon on the text “What must I do to be saved?”

Preacher John Bunyan

John Bunyan was born in Harrowden (one mile southeast of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England, November 28 1628. John was a

English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. With new laws meeting-houses were quickly closed and all citizens were required to attend Anglican only parish churches. In 1658, at aged 30, he was arrested for preaching at Eaton Socon without a license. He no longer had the freedom to preach that he had enjoyed under the Puritan Commonwealth and he was arrested again on November 12 1660 for preaching. He was confined for the first three months, but on his refusing to conform or to desist from preaching, his confinement was extended for a period of nearly 12 years. He said, “If you release me today, I will preach tomorrow.” In 1666, he was briefly released for a few weeks before he was arrested again for preaching and he was sent back to Bedford for another six years. In March 1675, he was again imprisoned for preaching, he later died from a cold on August 31 1688. While imprisoned Bunyan wrote about 60 books and tracts.

Reuben Archer Torrey

Open-Air Preacher Reuben Archer Torrey born in Hoboken, New Jersey January 28 1856 was an American evangelist. Reuben joined Dwight L. Moody in his evangelistic work in Chicago in 1889. R. A. Torrey gave reasons why public preaching is importance and has advantages:

A) Open-air meetings are portable, you can carry them around. It would be very difficult to carry a church or mission building with you, but there is no difficulty about carrying an open air meeting with you.

B) You can get an open-air meeting where you could by no possibility get a church, mission hall or even a room.

C) You can have open-air meetings in all parts of the city and all parts of the country.

D) Open-air meetings are economical. You neither have to pay rent nor hire a janitor.

E) You can reach men in an open-air meeting that you can reach in no other way.

F) You can reach backsliders and people who have drifted away from the church by holding a meeting on a street comer in a city.

G) Hold meetings near circuses, baseball games, and other places where the people crowd.

John Huss

Street Preacher John Huss born in 1372 Husinec, Bohemia. Hus was a key contributor to Protestantism, whose teachings had a strong influence on the states of Europe and on Martin Luther himself. He publicly denounce the often immoral and extravagant lifestyles of the clergy (including the pope himself), and made a bold claim that Christ alone is head of the church. The archbishop of Prague told Hus to stop preaching and asked the university to burn Wycliffe's writings. Hus refused to comply, and the archbishop condemned him. Meanwhile, Hus preached against the sale of indulgences, which were being used to finance the pope's expedition against the king of Naples. He was

labeled a heretic and was excommunicated in 1411, condemned by the Council of Constance, and burned at the stake. On July 6 1415 was the date given to be burned to death and on the way to the place of execution, he passed a churchyard and saw a bonfire of his books. He laughed and told the bystanders not to believe the lies circulated about him. Before he was executed he said “Today I will gladly die” as the fire was lit. As the flames engulfed him, Hus began to sing in Latin a Christian chant: “Christ, Thou Son of the Living God.”

William Penn

Open-Air Preacher William Penn born October 14, 1644. In early 1670 Penn fell into trouble by preaching in the street in violation of the Conventicle act. He was promptly arrested with Captain William Mead and taken before the lord-mayor, who sent them to the Old Bailey. In the remarkable trial that followed, the jury, who were kept for two days and nights without food, fire, or water, brought in a verdict of not guilty, for which each juryman was fined forty marks and sent to Newgate,

while Penn and Mead were also fined and imprisoned for contempt in wearing their hats in presence of the court. They appealed to the court of common pleas, where the decision of the lower court was reversed, and the great principle of English law was established, that it is the right of the jury to judge of the evidence independently of the dictation or direction of the court. Penn wrote many pamphlets and was charged with ‘publication without a license’ but the real crime was blasphemy, as signed in a warrant by King Charles for calling the Catholic Church “the Whore of Babylon”. Penn was placed in solitary confinement in an unheated cell and threatened with a life sentence. He bravely responded, “My prison shall be my grave before I will be judged a jot: for I owe my conscience to no mortal man.”

John Wycliffe

Street Preacher John Wycliffe an English theologian, lay preacher, who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers are known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement which preached a legalistic Gospel. Wycliffe was also an early advocate for translation of the Bible into the common tongue, thus putting the Word of God into the common man’s hands. His followers were called Lollards, and traveled throughout England preaching in the streets and marketplaces against the errors of Popery.

This influenced all later Reformers. John publicly preached against pope in the streets of England. Wycliffe died on the last day of the year 1384. Then on May 4 1415 the Council of Constance declared Wycliffe a stiff-necked heretic. It was decreed that his books be burned and his remains be exhumed. The exhumation was carried out in 1428 when, at the command of Pope Martin V, his remains were dug up, burned, and the ashes cast into the River Swift, which flows through Lutterworth.

John Wesley

Street Preacher John Wesley born June 17, 1703 in Epworth, England, fifteenth child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley. At the age of five, Wesley was rescued from the burning rectory. This escape made a deep impression on his mind, and he regarded himself as providentially set apart, as a “brand plucked from the burning.” He founded the English Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield. As John Wesley and George Whitefield preached in the open air, which allowed them to attract crowds larger than most buildings could accommodate. Wesley traveled generally on horseback, preaching two or three times each day, his preach theme was holiness. Wesley was the first to put the phrase ‘agree to disagree’ in print.This John said regarding Open-Air Preaching:“I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he set me an example on Sunday. Having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin, if it had not been

done in a church. In the evening I began expounding our Lords Sermon on the Mount (one pretty remarkable precedent of field-preaching, though I suppose there were churches at that time also).” “I am well assured that I did far more good to my Lincolnshire parishioners by preaching three days on my father's tomb than I did by preaching three years in his pulpit.” “To this day field preaching is a cross to me, but I know my commission and see no other way of preaching the gospel to every creature”. He died March 2 1791 at the age of 67.

Jonathan Edwards

Open Air Preacher Jonathan Edwards born October 5, 1703. He was philosophical, a theologian, intellectual and a scholar who preached in the streets. Edwards was fascinated by the discoveries of Isaac Newton and other scientists of his age. Jonathan played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first fires of revival in 1733-1735 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. One of his most well known sermons is “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” which left sinner crying. He died of the inoculation on March

22, 1758. He was buried in Princeton Cemetery. Edwards had three sons and eight daughters and his marriage brought forth holy children, the Edwards family produced scores of clergymen, thirteen presidents of higher learning, sixty-five professors, and many other persons of notable achievements.

John Knox

Street Preacher John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation

salvation by faith, the Scriptures as the only test of truth, the denial of purgatory and confession to a priest, and the rejection of the Roman Catholic mass as blasphemous idolatry.

Knox was captured by French troops captured and for 19 months used as a galley slave and once under flogging while in chains a picture of the Virgin Mary was brought on board. While the galley was in port, to be kissed by the slaves. When Knox refused, the picture was thrust into his face. Outraged, he flung the “accursed idol” into the river, saying “Let our Lady learn to swim.” John Knox the once body guard for another preacher named George Wishart is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination.

Peter Waldo

Public Preacher Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant in Lyons, France, started the Waldenses in the 12th century. One day he asked a theologian what he should do to gain eternal life. He was answered with the words of Jesus to the rich young ruler, to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow Christ. Waldo took this literally, selling his business, giving away his wealth. Together with his followers, they traveled by twos, preaching in the streets, reading passages of Scripture which they translated

themselves into the common language. Waldo also began to preach and teach on the streets, based on his ideas of simplicity and poverty, notably that “No man can serve two masters, God and mammon.” The Waldenses were street preachers! According to Foxe's Book of Martyrs, the Inquisition was originally launched against the Waldenses. The Roman Catholic Church began to persecute the Waldensians, and many were tried and sentenced to death in various European countries during the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries.

Francis of Assisi

Public Preacher Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) founded the Franciscan Order in the Catholic Church. Francis was son of a wealthy cloth merchant, and spent his youth in pleasure and frolicking until an illness, while he was a prisoner of war, caused him to reflect on eternity. He later took seriously the commands of Christ to His disciples to sell all and give to the poor, which Francis and his followers did. He received permission from the Pope for their order “to preach repentance everywhere.” According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1909) Francis “usually preached out of doors, in the market-places, from church steps, from the walls of castle courtyards.” Francis of Assisi was a street preacher!Many of the early Franciscan preachers were so popular that the churches were not big enough to hold the throngs that came to hear them. They were forced to preach outside the church in the open air to accommodate the crowds. Some of their popular preachers were Berthold of Regensberg (1220-1272), Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), and Bernardino of Sienna (1380-1444). The fearlessness of these Franciscan friars can be

seen in this account of some early Franciscan missionaries to Spain:“Six brothers were sent to Arab Spain. At first, they were politely received, but in Seville, they entered a mosque and preached against the Koran.... They were hauled out, beaten, and dragged before the Emir. They defied him and reviled Mohammed, that wicked slave of the devil. They were then taken to the top of a tower; whence they shouted down that Mohammed was an imposter. Jailed, they tried to convert the jailer and the other prisoners. Since the authorities could do nothing with them, the missionaries were sent to Morocco, where, being still defiant, they were tortured and beheaded....”Another shining light from the followers of Francis was Raymund Lully (1232-1315). He had a burden to preach to Muslims on their own turf. He wanted to travel to North Africa and evangelize in the streets of a Mohammedan town. When he was in his sixties, he traveled to Bugia in North Africa and “found his way to a public place, stood up

boldly, and proclaimed in the Arabic language that Christianity was the only true faith.” He was promptly arrested and deported. He returned, however, when he was in his eighties, and “came forth into the open market and presented himself to the people as the same man whom they had once expelled from their town. ... Lully stood before them and threatened them with divine wrath if they still persisted in their errors.” This time Raymund Lully was stoned to death by the mob. He died a martyr, preaching in the streets of a Muslim town, in 1315.The Dominicans were founded by Dominic (1170-1221), who traveled with Diego and journeyed from town to town conducting open air debates. Some Dominican preachers were so popular that they had to preach outside the church to accommodate the crowds that came to hear them. Such a Dominican preacher was Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419). Before Luther and the Protestant Reformation came along, the groundwork for their success was laid by several groups that rose within the Catholic Church and questioned papal authority to the point of getting excommunicated. Three such groups arose in

France in the 12th century, all started by street preachers.

Robert Flockhart

Street Preacher Robert Flockhart (1778-1857) A remarkable sinner who became a remarkable convert, was an extraordinarily gifted man and fearless street preacher in the Edinburgh of the mid-1800's. Converted in India, while a soldier, Flockhart was fearless as a street preacher, often in the face of unruly crowds. He was uniquely gifted as a

natural orator with a true genius for picturesque language. Compassion to the souls of men drove me to the streets and lanes of my native city, to plead with sinners, and persuade them to come to Jesus. In my preaching I dwelt upon death and its consequences, the everlasting punishment that awaited ungodly and impenitent sinners, and the everlasting weight of glory that was laid up for the righteous.

He was found every week-day evening at his post at the west-end of St. Giles’ cathedral, and on the Sabbath evenings in front of the Theatre. The weather was all one to him – in frost, in snow, in rain, as well as in sweet summer eve, he might be seen about nine o’clock slowly wending his way to his post.

Regarding Street Preaching Flockhart said: “You will never get at the ignorant and profligate mass with out open air preaching. I had to go to bonds and imprisonments for doing what our Master did, for he preached far oftener, by the roadside and by the seaside than in the synagogues.”

Send me Lord!

Street Preaching is not a new thing, denominations were started by them, revivals were happened by them, and Church history is filled with them. We find examples of them throughout the Bible starting with Noah in Geneses “a preacher of righteousness” ending with the two witnesses in the book of Revelation. And all in between those 66 books we find them. The modern Church has buried this talent and promotes every type of

ministry. Youth, single, married, golf, sewing, children and let us not forget the left handed-albino-minority-lesbo only from the Midwest ministry. Preaching the Gospel is not a ministry, it is a commandment, a commission and our duty.

Jesus Christ was a Street Preacher:"As the Father hath sent me so send I you."