Open Air Campaigners
Branches
GREAT BRITAIN
Open Air Campaigners has been working in Britain since 1968 when David Fanstone, the present National Director, preached at the first sketchboard open-air on the seafront in Brighton on the south coast.
THE STAFF
From the small beginnings in 1968, the British staff has grown. There are currently about twenty evangelists on the full-time staff scattered throughout the country. There is also one trainee, a General Secretary and a National Treasurer.
The work is supported by a faithful council who meet regularly in London and work hard to keep the organisation on track with legal and other matters.
THE MINISTRY
Churches
All evangelists are members of a local church and are often involved in preaching and teaching roles. The evangelists are trained to work within the church and are particularly effective in all-age evangelistic services. Many of our evangelists lead both adult, youth and children's missions within churches.
Open-Airs
This is a significant distinctive of OAC and all our evangelists are trained both to preach in the open-air and to provide training in this area. The sketchboard or illusions/escapology would be most people's choice for this sphere of communication as a visual presentation is most likely to draw a crowd. Most of the evangelists operate an open-air ministry on a regular or semi-regular basis - as much as possible given the unpredictability of the British weather!
Schools
In Britain it is a legal requirement that each child in school should attend a daily act of worship, and should also be taught Religious Education. We have the privilege of being able to go into state schools to take assemblies and also R.E. classes. Again the sketch board is a useful tool for telling Bible stories, supplemented by illusions to illustrate gospel messages. OAC evangelists have one of the most extensive school's ministries in the country, in terms of the number of children we reach with the gospel on a regular basis. This has a direct effect in the open-air when children and young people recognise our staff and the input can then be followed up.
Ships
Some of our staff in port cities are involved in cooperation with the Seamen's Mission in visiting ships . It is an effective way of sharing the gospel with people from around the world.
Prisons
In Britain there is currently a mini revival occurring in the prisons. Many prisoners are coming to faith and some of our staff regularly minister "inside".
Festivals
A regular feature of British life are New Age festivals that take place mainly in the summer months and particularly down in the South West of the country. Our teams in Cornwall and the South West are frequently a feature of these events and are usually on the programme as "Traditional Story Tellers". Our marquee is a good centre for people to come and relax and chat, watch children's presentations, get faces painted and many other things!
TRAINING
OAC has always been a "give away" organisation. Training and motivating christians for evangelism is a central part of our ministry. We run two National Training Seminars in open-air evangelism each summer, in Birmingham and Glasgow, organised by our Training Director, Geoff Beckingham. There is also a training seminar for school's workers, usually run in Nottingham in November by Dawn Clancy and Kevin Skillings. In addition to this, many of our staff are ready to provide training for individuals or groups, tailored to specific needs. There is also of course the national staff training programme for those who want to work on the full-time staff.
SUPPORT
OAC Ministries is a faith mission, and each evangelist is responsible for raising his/her own support. We are supported by a huge variety of people and churches who give, often sacrificially so that the work can continue and pray faithfully so that the work is effective.
RELATED PAGES
EMAIL LINKS
OAC Ministries National Office
OAC Ministries, 102 Dukes Avenue, Muswell Hill,
London N10 2QA
Tel (+44) (0) 181 4445254
Fax (+44) (0) 181 4445254