About us

When the Lord Jesus looked upon the crowds who followed him, the Bible tells us, ‘He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd’ (Matthew 9:36).

Today, there are still vast crowds of lost people who will never walk through the door of a church to hear the good news of the gospel. For over 170 years The Open-Air Mission has been going out onto the streets to bring the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection to those who may never otherwise hear it.

OAM has a team of evangelists and associate workers who run regular open-air outreaches across the UK and further afield. We work with local churches to share the gospel in town centres, in schools, on beaches, at fairgrounds and in many other venues. We also seek to support and equip local churches in open-air evangelism.

Key Facts

14 staff evangelists
44 associate workers
2,000+ outreaches per year
100+ open-air locations
5,000+ John’s Gospels distributed to enquirers each year

To find out more about the work of OAM, why not download our free introductory booklet, How Shall They Hear?

How did OAM begin?

In 1853, a Christian barrister called John MacGregor was burdened by the spiritual needs of those around him who never attended a church. In London one day, he saw an open-air outreach taking place with two or three preachers sharing the message of the Saviour’s love with a small crowd who surrounded them.

John MacGregor’s heart was stirred as he realised that this was the way to reach the careless multitudes he encountered every day. He waited until the meeting ended, then spoke to those involved. They agreed to meet for prayer and a few days later a prayer meeting took place in the Holborn area of London.

In that prayer meeting the work of The Open-Air Mission was born. John Macgregor wrote in his diary: ‘I see in this a small beginning of what may, yes will, be a great, noble and blessed undertaking.’ He could never have foreseen that the work would be continuing so many years later! What a testimony the mission is to the greatness and faithfulness of God.

To find out more, read our history booklet, written to commemorate our 150th anniversary.

Mission & values

We exist to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the open air and to support the church in open-air evangelism.

As a mission we seek:

To be connected to the local church. We believe in the importance of the local church and all our evangelists and team members belong to Bible-believing churches. We seek the support of local churches in each area we operate in. We put enquirers in contact with local churches and equip churches in evangelism by providing training in open-air work and helpful evangelistic literature.
To be engaging in our preaching. We aim to connect with individuals. We rarely use amplification when preaching as this can have the effect of driving people away. We want to be friendly faces who draw people to listen to the preaching and then into personal conversation with us. Every week, hundreds of conversations take place with those on our open-air teams across the UK.
To work with teams of believers. Most open-airs are supported by men and women from local churches. Their support is invaluable. Not all are preachers. Some listen, some hand out literature, whilst others are able to engage in one to one conversation with those who have stopped. We encourage believers to work together in reaching out with the gospel.