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Christians have used many different approaches to spread Christianity via the practice of evangelism. Christianity began with only a few different evangelistic approaches, but over the years, many different forms of evangelism have been employed by various groups to spread their faith. Many of these forms of evangelism are often employed in only certain parts of the world by Christians in different geographical areas. In particular, most new approaches to evangelism today have arisen out of Europe or the United States, especially when new technologies are used for the effort of evangelism. Open-air preaching Open-air preaching is an approach to evangelism characterized by speaking in public places out in the open, generally to crowds of people at a time, using a message, sermon, or speech which spreads the gospel. Supporters of this approach note that both Jesus and many of the Old Testament prophets often preached about God in public places. It is one of the oldest approaches to evangelism. During Protestant Reformation, open-air preaching was often employed by Protestants throughout Europe who could not always preach inside churches, which were mostly Catholic. Open-air preaching in Europe continued during the rise of Puritanism and other Protestant movements. It was often used in Pastoral environments as well as in cities, the former sometimes due to a desire to avoid the authorities, and the latter because, for one reason, it could reach eccentric people living in cities who would not otherwise hear the gospel. In the time period of the late 19th century and early-to-mid-20th century many famous open-air preachers in the United States began to preach, such as Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. Graham in particular used a combination of open-air preaching and the recent advent of televangelism to broadcast his sermons, which often took place in large venues such as stadiums, to large portions of the world and millions of Americans. 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. Wesley declared, "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." Trickle-down evangelism Trickle-down evangelism is an approach to evangelism primarily concerned with converting high-ranking members of a society, so that their influence can serve to help spread Christianity throughout the society in question. It was practiced especially often during the Middle Ages. Trickle-down evangelism was practiced throughout China multiple times during the Middle Ages, with examples such as converted or sympathetic officials helping the Jesuits or other parts of the Catholic church spread, or the expedition of Marco Polo resulting in the Mongol ruler of China Kublai Khan inviting the Pope to send "teachers of science and religion" to China. Trickle-down evangelism was also applied often in European areas during ancient times, such as in the northern Sweden area, as the Catholic Church tried to send missionaries into the area. Door-to-door evangelism The Bible records that Jesus sent out his disciples to evangelize by visiting peoples homes in pairs of two believers (cf. Luke 10:1–12). In the same text, Jesus mentioned that few people were willing to evangelize, despite there being many people who would be receptive to his Gospel message. As such, door-to-door preaching is an approach to evangelism where a Christian will go from household to household in a certain area to evangelize to residents, often in conjunction with passing out gospel tracts. Jesus often went into other people's homes during his own ministry, and according to The Encyclopedia of Protestantism, it is a very important approach to evangelism. One of the first modern large-scale uses of door-to-door preaching was when the Oriental Mission Society attempted to visit the homes of an entire nation, by visiting 10.3 million homes in Japan from 1912 to 1917. The international organization Every Home for Christ began door-to-door preaching in 1953 throughout many countries, and as of 2010, total home visits by their members became 1.3 billion. Many local parishes and churches worldwide use this approach to evangelism. Methodist churches aligned with the holiness movement engage in door to door evangelism and in this tradition, it is frequently referred to as "calling". Groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses and members of the LDS movement are famous in particular for spreading their beliefs by door to door evangelism at people's homes, often in pairs or small groups. Both groups' main organizations use door-to-door preaching to a great extent. Full-time missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints use this, and other techniques, to find people to teach. Ashes to Go evangelism on Ash Wednesday Since 2007, some members of major Christian Churches in the United States, including Lutherans, Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists among others, have participated in 'Ashes to Go' activities, in which clergy go outside of their churches to public places, such as city centres, sidewalks and railroad stations, to distribute ashes to people on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the penitential season in the Christian liturgical calendar. The Anglican priest Emily Mellott of Calvary Church in Lombard took up the idea and turned it into a movement, stated that the practice was an act of evangelism. Anglicans and Catholics in parts of the United Kingdom such as Sunderland, are offering Ashes to Go together: Marc Lyden-Smith, the priest of Saint Mary's Church, stated that the ecumenical effort is a "tremendous witness in our city, with Catholics and Anglicans working together to start the season of Lent, perhaps reminding those who have fallen away from the Church, or have never been before, that the Christian faith is alive and active in Sunderland." The Catholic Student Association of Kent State University, based at the University Parish Newman Center, offered ashes to university students who were going through the Student Center of that institution in 2012, and Douglas Clark of St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Church in Statesboro, among others, have participated in Ashes to Go. On Ash Wednesday 2017, Father Paddy Mooney, the priest of St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in the Irish town of Glenamaddy, set up an Ashes to Go station through which commuters could drive and receive ashes from their car; the parish church also had "drive-through prayers during Lent with people submitting requests into a box left in the church grounds without having to leave their car". Reverend Trey Hall, pastor of Urban Village United Methodist Church, stated that when his lo.... Discover the James H Thrall popular books. Find the top 100 most popular James H Thrall books.