As a boy I always looked over to the left from my upstairs seat on the bus as it went along Park Lane to Marble Arch. There you could see Speakers' Corner and some people speaking from their soapboxes. I thought they were very odd and even out of their minds. But little did I realise that one day I would be doing the same!
At Speakers' Corner, particularly on a Sunday afternoon, you will find Socialists, Jews, Muslims, strange sects, a sad Englishman in his 60s to whom hardly anyone listens, an English lady in her 50s who preaches hatred (yes! and the crowd love it) as well as the occasional faithful gospel preacher. At the Whitsun weekend you will also find a team of about 100 from United Beach Missions; they call it 'Christian Answer'. That is where a friend and I found ourselves this year, in my case for the 7th year running.
Speakers' Corner, where people have the right to free speech provided they do not break the law, has sinister origins. Just nearby was Tyburn, the place where, from 1300 to 1783, condemned men and women were hanged. In fact a café at Marble Arch is named "The Tyburn Café". But before being hanged the condemned men and women were given one last chance to speak in public, presumably to proclaim their innocence to whoever wanted to listen; hence the ongoing tradition of free speech.
At the Whitsun weekend all the world is at Speakers' Corner, well almost! Every year we meet people from dozens of different countries, and over the weekend thousands pass by our stand. Some stop and then move on, while others stop to listen. On the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Bank Holiday weekend there is non-stop preaching for about 4 hours each day.
There are experienced open-air preachers, sometimes using illustrated talks on the Velcro board and sometimes preaching straight from the Bible. There are old and young, perhaps I should point out that I have been the oldest team member for the past few years! But there are many young people and it thrills me to see 16 year-olds on the team too. Some of them are understandably apprehensive at first or even terrified and some have no intention whatever of going up on the 'box' or 'stand'. It is impressive to see experienced open-air preachers take these young people under their wing and then gently interview them on the box as to their Christian faith. It is even more exciting to see these same youngsters volunteering to give their testimony from the box the next day!
The team, who come from all over the country, are based at West Kilburn Baptist Church. The women on the team sleep there, while the men are transported to two other church halls in north London. Sleeping on church floors is not my favourite pastime so I pull rank, using my age as an excuse to stay overnight with friends at Trinity Road Chapel. We have our meals at the church in West Kilburn and meet every morning for Bible ministry and teaching on some practical aspect of evangelism, before heading off by bus or car to Speakers' Corner.
