Evangelists on trains.

[D6130]

This evening, while travelling on train 1E78, 2027 Chester - Leeds my journey has been interrupted for a second time in less than a week by a young evangelist walking up and down the carriage advising me and everyone else in the carriage to repent their sins and grow to love Jesus, etc, etc.

It's hard to complain directly to them because they are always gentle, smiling young people who obviously have a deep and passionate faith. However, after a short time their sermons become tiresome and disturb a lot of passengers who are trying to work, read, sleep, etc.

Exactly the same thing happened last Friday afternoon when I was travelling on an Elizabeth Line train from Paddington to Brentwood.

Is there anything that can be done about this seemingly new phenomenon? Although it would be difficult to enforce, they must be breaking at least one railway bye-law.

 

[D6130]

In the case of this evening's episode it was a very attractive, well-dressed and smiling young lady of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Last Friday's evangelist was a well-dressed, smiling young man of South Asian heritage. I don't think they were Jehovah's Witnesses....but I suppose I could have found out by standing up and asking if there were any blood donors in the carriage.

 

[dk1]

In the case of this evening's episode it was a very attractive, well-dressed and smiling young lady of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Last Friday's evangelist was a well-dressed, smiling young man of South Asian heritage. I don't think they were Jehovah's Witnesses....but I suppose I could have found out by standing up and asking if there were any blood donors in the carriage.

Oh doesn’t it just make you scream?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Sep 2025 ==

Funny though with that response to that lot

 

[DarloRich]

Just tell them, once, politely to go away. If they don't, follow the advice offered by @dk1 !

 

[dk1]

Just tell them, once, politely to go away. If they don't, follow the advice offered by @dk1 !

Exactly. I’m always polite but if I’ve told you once then good luck with how I react next!!

 

[Parham Wood]

Tell them you are a follower of Lucifer.

 

[Gloster]

Well, they would probably be breaking Byelaw 6.8 as they might ‘wilfully interfere with the comfort or convenience of any person on the railway’. At a pinch they might also be breaking 6.1 as some people might find it ’offensive language’.

But what about 7.2.2, when they might be trying to ‘sell or expose or offer anything for sale’: are they trying to sell me ‘eternal salvation’ or something similar, without the permission of the operator. If they try to hand out leaflets wouldn’t that be a breach of 7.2.1 if they haven’t got permission.

 

[Purple Train]

It's a sad fact of evangelism that those who are best at it tend not to do it - I think the phenomenon of talking to people in a sealed metal box is in part driven by this. Not the way I'd choose to tell people the Good News, based on my experience, but like you said I'm sure the majority are decent people (you do get the odd mad person). I'm sure there is some catch-all byelaw or other that they would be breaking. I'll keep an eye out for this, as I've never encountered it and a train is the one place where I have the social inanxiety necessary to have a deep and meaningful conversation! I've often wondered how different their mindset is from that of, for instance, my grandfather, who was a street preacher in the late 30s when it was much closer to mainstream.

 

[Belperpete]

I think my response would be to politely ask if they have permission from whichever TOC it might be, to be doing this on their trains.

 

[dk1]

I think my response would be to politely ask if they have permission from whichever TOC it might be, to be doing this on their trains.

Just put your earbuds back in and YAWN loudly at them.

 

[styles]

I think my response would be to politely ask if they have permission from whichever TOC it might be, to be doing this on their trains.

"There is no permission needed to do the Lord's work!"

 

[Steddenm]

I remember as a kid that the Seawall in Teignmouth between the Lido and Holcombe Head used to have small leaflets pushed into the benches, gates and life buoys advertising religion. Haven't seen them in years though

 

[johnnychips]

There is justification for this activity:

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Isiah 6:1. King James Bible

I presume his train was a Circle Line. These evangelicals are glorifying the event.

 

[Harpo]

and his train filled the temple.

The problem here is the temple filling the train.

 

[styles]

Something something Bristol

 

[Flying Snail]

In the case of this evening's episode it was a very attractive, well-dressed and smiling young lady of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Last Friday's evangelist was a well-dressed, smiling young man of South Asian heritage. I don't think they were Jehovah's Witnesses....but I suppose I could have found out by standing up and asking if there were any blood donors in the carriage.

Unlikely to be JWs, they up until recently required members to log a certain amount of hours prostelytising but the sanctioned activities never included ranting at people in public. Knocking on doors and distributing literature in order to lure people in to talking about god is their thing.

 

[AndyW33]

Last year I was on a Cross Country train that was boarded at Cheltenham by Gloucestershire Police officers who removed an evangelist who was certainly annoying passengers. I think the real reason for their presence was to detain a man who had threatened the refreshment trolley operator.

 

[dk1]

I sat in Pret yesterday watching the same preacher set up opposite with his army of elderly disciples handing out pieces of paper. Always amazes me where they get the enthusiasm from as i rarely see anyone accept anything with most wanting him to shut up too.

 

[trebor79]

Unlikely to be JWs, they up until recently required members to log a certain amount of hours prostelytising but the sanctioned activities never included ranting at people in public. Knocking on doors and distributing literature in order to lure people in to talking about god is their thing.

My mum worked out how to deal with them when I was about 10.
"Have you ever thought about god?"
"Yes, yes I have. And I've come to the conclusion it's a complete load of nonsense. But do feel free to come and and convince me otherwise!" delivered in her schoolteacher voice.
They declined her offer.

I've seen the odd evangelist on the tube, being studiously ignored by all and sundry. They don't really annoy me, they are harmless enough and most probably have some kind of mental illness.

 

[sh24]

As ever, noise cancelling headphones are a must for travel. They help blot out the world.

 

[FrodshamJnct]

I was on Avanti service from Crewe to Lime St a couple of months ago and there was a very loud gentleman walking through the carriages preaching about Jesus etc.

Didn’t take long before he was rightly challenged by several passengers with children that he was upsetting.

 

[GoneSouth]

I genuinely find preaching in public to people who on the whole don’t want to listen to be very threatening. Often if you politely try to say you aren’t interested they will tell you how you will be eternally damned to pain and suffering at the hands of the devil. Makes me shudder with the callousness that the message is delivered and for some can be intensely intimidating.

Thankfully I haven’t come across this behaviour on a train but I have at tube stations

 

[BeijingDave]

I always just say I am a Methodist (partially true).

They don't know I am not a churchgoer.

The worst tactic is to indicate you're Atheist or Agnostic. Then you are ideal for conversion.

If you say you are already a particular denomination, they usually don't bother because they know they won't swing you. It is obviously best to say the denomination you have working familiarity with (Catholicism, Anglicanism, whatever) just in case they ask you a follow-up question. But my experience is they totally leave you alone.

 

[contrex]

My mum worked out how to deal with them when I was about 10.
"Have you ever thought about god?"
"Yes, yes I have. And I've come to the conclusion it's a complete load of nonsense. But do feel free to come and and convince me otherwise!" delivered in her schoolteacher voice.
They declined her offer.

I've seen the odd evangelist on the tube, being studiously ignored by all and sundry. They don't really annoy me, they are harmless enough and most probably have some kind of mental illness.

I was stopped in the street a few months ago by an adult Jehovah's Witness and a teenager. I'd just come out of my front gate, so I suppose it counted as doorstepping. I talked to them very enthusiastically about St Thomas Aquinas and the Problem of Evil as discussed by Augustine of Hippo and Clement of Alexandria, and the varying views of the Quakers and Christian Scientists. I kept up a good patter for about 5 minutes, after which time the adult JW smiled weakly and said they 'had to get on'. I never had a knock after that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Sep 2025 ==

The worst tactic is to indicate you're Atheist or Agnostic. Then you are ideal for conversion.

If you say you are already a particular denomination, they usually don't bother because they know they won't swing you. It is obviously best to say the denomination you have working familiarity with (Catholicism, Anglicanism, whatever) just in case they ask you a follow-up question. But my experience is they totally leave you alone.

I heard that they won't poach on Baptists and Wesleyans, but that they get extra keen if you say you are Catholic, as they feel you are deeply in error and badly need rescuing. A relative who was quite high up in the Salvation Army really surprised me by expressing the same view.

 

[BeijingDave]

I heard that they won't poach on Baptists and Wesleyans, but that they get extra keen if you say you are Catholic, as they feel you are deeply in error and badly need rescuing. A relative who was quite high up in the Salvation Army really surprised me by expressing the same view.

Ah you may be right. Like I said, I say I am a Methodist, so maybe I get a pass.

 

[birchesgreen]

I'd tell them i only follow the one true god, the Brush Type 4.

 

[43096]

I'd tell them i only follow the one true god, the Brush Type 4.

The god Valenta is a higher deity.

 

[Omnidekkalover]

Personally I don’t see it as particularly fair on people who are a) not the preachers denomination or b and more importantly) atheist or of a different faith to the preacher. They should not be permitted to shout about Jesus on a train. Going off the rails a bit here, the most annoying one in my area is a really loud one who uses a loudspeaker setup outside Victoria Centre in Nottingham.

 

[Requeststop]

If the Jehovah Witnesses turned up at my door, I'd tell them that I was a Jehovah's by-stander. I don't want to be involved and close the door on them politely.

 

[davidhg]

Exactly. I’m always polite but if I’ve told you once then good luck with how I react next!!

My dad always told them he was an independent bhudist!