A Certain Sound: A Primer on Open Air Preaching

by Ryan Denton, Scott Smith

Table of
PART 1: THEOLOGY OF OPEN AIR PREACHING
A History of Open Air Preaching
Theology for Open Air Preaching
The Local Church and the Open Air Preacher
Using the Law in the Open Air
Using Apologetics in the Open Air
Part 2: THE TASK OF OPEN AIR PREACHING
The Open Air Preacher's Character
The Open Air Preacher's Competence
Response to Open Air Preaching
The Open Air Preacher's Response
Exhortation to the Church and Seminaries
Heard the Call?

Genres: Theology, Evangelism, Nonfiction

149 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 2025

About the author

Ryan Denton is a Presbyterian minister, evangelist, & church planter. He has published with RHB, DesiringGod, Founders Ministries, The Confessional Presbyterian, Heidelblog, and others. He has degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, St. John's College, University of New Mexico, and a Th.M from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Follow him on X: @TexasPreacher

Reviews

[Daniel Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer on the topic of Open Air Preaching. It is indeed a primer. No chapter goes into super detail on any of it's subjects, but that's ok; it's a primer. I thought the 2nd half of the book was much better than the first. As someone who open air preaches already, I didn't need arguments to convince me of the biblical precedent for it or anything like that. It was good and solid in it's arguments (though again not incredibly in depth as it's a relatively short book) which was encouraging, but not necessarily ground breaking for me.

The 2nd half dealt with a little bit more practical issues on how to preach and the preachers character. Though this wasn't necessarily ground breaking news to me either, this half was much more encouraging as preachers need constant reminders to look to Christ in all things, not depending upon themselves or their own sufficiency or righteousness.

Probably more than anything this book helped me realize in a greater way the importance of evangelists in the Church Body. As a pastor, it was very helpful in highlighting the need to encourage certain members to further fan into flame their gift of evangelism.

I probably won't recommend this book to too many people, however I will definitely turn to it to give to people who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit in this way as it's a wonderful primer on the topic that will help balance a preacher out in very helpful ways.

[Matthew C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was impressed with this short book's concise defense of the need for open air evangelism in the contemporary culture. The authors do a great job bringing the reader back to the basics of biblical anthropology and man's inability to respond to the gospel apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Further, this book serves as a wake-up call to all those who have come to realize the deficiencies of mere friendship evangelism and watered-down presentations of the sinfulness that separates man from a holy God. The respective words of advice to both street preachers and ordained ministers/seminarians is balanced and edifying.

In short, this book revives the idea that the word of God indeed has power as it is preached through ostensibly "foolish" Christians.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Certain Sound" challenges some common assumptions of today's churches. First, the popular quote attributed to Francis of Assisi "Preach the gospel everywhere; use words if necessary" is wrong. There is no gospel preaching without spoken words. Second, a questionable assumption that only ordained ministers should preach the gospel at church meetings has taken hold of the churches. Where does Bible say that lay believers can only invite lost people to church, evangelize through their lifestyle, and get around to witnessing directly only after building friendships with unbelievers? This book persuasively argues for direct preaching to the lost where they are. These dark times demand that complacent Christians consider public, outdoor preaching.

[Gabe Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was encouraging and convicting. It’s definitely a book for every Christian who agrees or disagrees with open-air preaching/ evangelism, or who knows someone who does.
I think it would even be a helpful primer on evangelism in general.

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Romans 10:13-14)

[David Batten]

Was given this book by a friend involved in street preaching. It helped me understand the a lot more about his perspective on the place of street preaching and the common areas of conflict between street preachers and the larger church. Though I don't agree with the priority the book places on street preaching, I appreciate the thoughtfulness and especially the heart behind the picture it lays out.

[Micah Natal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a fantastic primer and scripturally rich defense of open-air preaching. Open-air preaching is a practice many dismiss as outdated or ineffective. Denton dismantles that objection and shows that it’s not the method that saves, but God Himself. Our task is simply to proclaim the Gospel faithfully and trust the Spirit to bring the new birth. If you are a critic of open-air preaching and see it as ineffective or “not winsome” you need to read this book.

[George Mayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a challenging and convicting book arguing for the necessity of preaching to unbelievers outside the church. This was certainly a primer, and I would have liked for it to have been a bit longer and to have included some more anecdotes, but it has whet my appetite to read more on this subject.

[Raymond Benitez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A primer on open-air preaching from a reformed perspective. It provided good insights into the theology behind open-air evangelism about didn’t have a whole lot of “how-to” information.

It was an excellent read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who would give more thought to this type of ministry.

[Matt Veilleux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd never heard of a reformed book on this subject before reading this. Overall, thought it was really good and even promoted pressup apologetics. Not sure if I agree with the qualification for open air preaching, but everything else was solid.

[Cindy DeLong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this. A practical guide on street preaching. I admired how the author was frank about the dangers of preaching at an abortion center. I appreciated his warnings to not argue with other Christians regardless of what they believed.

[Greg Dix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short read! This work helped flesh out the idea of evangelists being approved & sent out by the church. Ch. 26 of the 2LBC helps explain the position of “Gifted Brethren” and identifying who they are in the body.

[Boxer Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Concise but informative. Theological but practical.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cogent argument for the necessity of regular, planned street-preaching.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent primer!

[Levi W. A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give it a 9 out of 10 🌟 📚.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging book. A good read for anyone — whether they will preach in the open air or not. One of the best things about this book is it’s emphasis on the local church. Open air preachers are not to be “parachurch” missionaries but they are an extension of the local body’s work of evangelism.