The title ‘street preacher’ evokes images that range from sermons on sandwich-board signs to simple gospel tracts. Though the earliest evangelists were preaching Jesus in the public square (Acts 5:42) long before there were any pulpits, it’s sometimes hard to imagine what that ministry would look like today.
Tommy Littleton knows. A member of Southcrest Baptist Church in Bessemer, Littleton has had more than two decades of self-supported ministry on highways and in hedges around the world. He’s preached to the down-and-out and the up-and-out of New York City. “I once preached to Calvin Klein and to a homeless man on the same street in the same half-hour.”
He also has preached to the frenzied crowds of Dublin, Ireland, on St. Patrick’s Day. His ministry takes him to popular destinations like New Orleans and Daytona Beach and to remote corners like Honduras and Croatia, but always to the crossroads where people gather.
Littleton’s technique is profoundly simple: “The Lord opens a door and I go.” He’s self-employed and single and that flexibility allows for several months of ministry every year. Once on location, Littleton goes to the high-traffic areas and hangouts to meet a variety of people.
Need for Jesus universal
“I’ve preached to punks in New York’s East Village, to street performers and tourists in the French Quarter, and to any number of spring-breakers, runaways, shop-keepers and homeless people in parks and on beachside strips,” Littleton said. “Underneath the circumstances the need is always the same. They need Jesus.
“Since the early ’90s I’ve been focused on Myrtle Beach, S. C., during the summer,” he said. “There are 60,000 teenagers there every week during senior weeks.”
He often works with church groups and friends who come alongside to try to engage as many as possible with the gospel. “Going it alone can make you feel like an eyedropper against an inferno,” he said, “but partners are a big encouragement. Plus it’s nice to see Jesus’ one prayer request fulfilled as workers go out into this field for harvest.”
The ministry depends on impromptu conversations. “Most people on the street are looking for interaction and they have opinions that they’re eager to express,” he observed. “If you give a hearing you can usually get one in return.”
Realizing that these encounters are by definition passing, Littleton is very deliberate and direct in his comments. “In front-line evangelism there must be a balance between sensitivity and urgency. We have to cut through a lot of evasiveness fairly quickly in order to address eternal issues.
“Street preaching is more than hit-and-run evangelism,” Littleton said. “It’s planting a seed … and trusting God for the rest.”
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