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In his smoke shaded Sear-Sucker suit, skinny red suspenders and a sullen scowl, Preacher Gary seems in control. Clutching his well-worn red leather Bible in his hand as he dances around and dodges the deluge of insults being hurled at him like bullets. He's done this too many times to be bothered by hecklers.
His performances draw crowds larger than most campus events and he never disappoints with the theatrics. He scolds, reprimands, rebukes and taunts students every time he swaggers around the Belk Tower, which for that moment is his makeshift pulpit.
UNC Charlotte knows him as Preacher Gary, UNC Chapel Hill knows him as the "Pit Preacher," NC State calls him the "Brickyard Preacher," but his momma only knows him as Gary.
The 63-year-old Gary Birdsong began speaking to students over two decades ago after he said God spoke to him. "I was running around smoking marijuana doing sinful, evil things," he said in an interview between speeches. "Then one day God convicted me of my sins and I changed my ways."
Although holding no official training as a preacher or having any ordination, Gary has studied the bible and feels he is the right man to speak about the perils of sin to students across the country. "These kids need to realize that their sinning ways are going to send them straight to hell. They need to turn to God."
The former Hell's Angel drug-mule has an opinion on everything from homosexuality to international politics, but he always seems to have the same answer for everything: "Repent. Or burn in hell!"
However, it's not his message that brings in his flocks to actively listen or jeer him, it's his delivery. A delivery that got him kicked off the UNC Chapel Hill campus for two years. He is appealing that ruling.
His style is over the top. With a cocky, condescending, angry performance, Gary may yell, he might lift his hands to the heavens and sing, he may even do a little dance, all to keep students guessing.
Gary even takes his show on the road, touring college campuses up and down the Eastern seaboard moving with the seasons. During the winter he travels south, visiting colleges like the University of Florida and in the summer he's in the north at Ohio State University. But in the spring, he's in the Carolinas trolling college campuses along the I-85 corridor looking for sin.
"It's interesting to me how so many of these people choose to live their lives," he said. "They've removed God and they'll have to pay for that."
Birdsong isn't the only 'man of God' marauding his way through campuses purging students of their sins. He's part of a much larger network that has been in place for thousands of years.
Who are these preachers?
Many collegiate "street preachers" will accredit their life's work to a bible passage in the book of Jeremiah, which reads: "Then the Lord said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them."
Birdsong said that passage inspired him. "The Bible tells me to get out here and preach the word of God, so here I stand." Other campus Christ crusaders have read this passage or others like it and have taken to the streets, filling college campuses' "free speech areas" with their own brand of biblical vitriol called "open-air ministries."
"Open-air ministries" is a practice of preaching in public areas, usually near bars, strip clubs or college campuses. Most people who engage in this practice do so with a throwback style of Puritanical sermons, which are dedicated to examining the perils of a lost and worried soul after death. One of the practitioners of this style, who wished that his name not be used, said of conventional pastors: "Those guys are preaching to the already converted. They're not out here saving the sinners, fags and evil people like (we are)."
Street preachers like Joey Johnson, a young, 2005 graduate of the Wharton Business School, Tom Short, and Michael Siemer use this style and practice it around college campuses.
One of the more furious is Micah Armstrong. Better known as Brother Micah, Armstrong travels with his wife, Sister Elizabeth, and is a mainstay at the University of Central Florida. Both tend to be more confrontational and abrasive while speaking to students. Armstrong also is infamous for his songs; including one of his more frequently used, "It's Not OK to be Gay."
The most famous campus preacher is Brother Jed-real name George Smock-a 33-year veteran on the collegiate ministries circuit. Smock tutored Brother Micah, teaching him the ways of how to preach in public. Smock opened a one-week training academy called the School of Evangelism located in Columbia, M.O., to teach the practice of "open-air ministries."
"I chose college campuses to preach this message because the (students) are the future leaders of America … They're not too old to convert, younger people aren't as set in their ways," Smock said during a phone interview. According to him he has preached on a college campus every school day this semester.
Smock has also written an autobiography entitled, "Who Will Rise Up?" about his work in the field. Smock covers college campuses from California to Connecticut and is famous for his yelling delivery style but admits the crowd's reaction is a gauge for how he will preach, saying, generally, he likes to mimic the crowds reaction and tie it into his sermons.
"I sometimes get tired of talking about sex and sexuality. I prefer to address the philosophical questions of evil," he said. "I usually begin by appealing to their conscious but eventually end up appealing to their emotions."
And even Brother Jed will admit that some of the antics are a little over the top and extreme. "We don't have the luxury of speaking to a classroom like a professor or to a congregation. We have to do something that will get students attention, keep it and engage their interests," he said.
Even if the performance is a bit staged the outcomes can be very real. Brother Jed said he had his arm broken after an attack at the University of Kentucky and his ankle cracked at the University of Wisconsin. He also said that some students hear his message and later are contributors, paying for his ventures across the country.
Like Brother Jed, many of the preachers also claim to be funded by churches across the United States but generally do not like to disclose which churches actually donate to their causes.
Gary Birdsong says that churches in Raleigh and others in Michigan fund his expeditions across the country but wouldn't disclose any names.
The business of preaching Jesus at colleges
With the thousands of "open-air ministry" preachers in practice, a niche market has been formed around the business of preaching brimstone. Web sites have been founded solely to offer helpful hints.
Web sites like www.biblebelivers.com or www.streetpeaching.com, which portrays children shouting and holding signs on the site's front page. Streetpeaching.com is a how-to manual explaining who to contact and what to do if you are ever arrested while preaching. The site give biblical responses to any question a preacher would ever be asked, and even has a 15-minute lesson on how to play the accordion to help draw attention to yourself on the street.
"These guys are always looking for ways to get attention," said Daniel Morgan, a third-year graduate student at the University of Florida.
Morgan, who is working on his Ph. D. in chemistry, has spent a lot of time researching the phenomena of street preachers in his blog called "Get Busy Livin', or Get Busy Bloggin'."
"I'm one of those people who loves to argue about religion," he said during a phone interview. "I had run into these guys on campus and like a lot of people spent a good bit of time arguing with them."
Morgan began his blog in November of 2005 and has spoken with many of the aforementioned preachers in private away from the angry throngs of students.
"In private these guys are much different," he said. "If you get these guys away from other people they will generally speak to you, answer your questions and even concede some ground on some issues."
Even though Morgan and these campus preachers don't see eye-to-eye on most issues he doesn't dislike them. "I have a lot of respect for these guys … They aren't stupid like a lot of people think. They're actually pretty smart and generally nice guys if you pull them aside and speak with them. Their acts are a façade for the most part."
Morgan blogs about many of the preachers visiting UF and has picked up on some common practices amongst all of them. "One common tactic for the people who aren't going to repent, the preachers use God's law, but for the ones who have repented, they will use God's grace.
"The only people who really get mad about this are other Christians. The atheists just laugh these guys off, but the Christians feel like (the preachers) are doing a disservice."
This was the case at UNC Charlotte on Tuesday March 22.
Preacher Gary and a 19-year-old Meteorology student named Craig Little were offering up suggestions for salvation to a heckling crowd.
Birdsong seemed to bask in the crowd's glow, participating in the dance in which all campus preachers and their crowds love to engage.
"If you sin then you are the Devil," he barked to the crowd.
Little stood in the wings, looking confused and bothered by Birdsong's comments. Occasionally offering up a different interpretation of the scriptures only to be shushed by Birdsong.
After a few hours, Preacher Gary left the crowd and Little tried to explain the good things that salvation brings. The crowd wasn't caring to listen: arguing, heckling and jeering the young student, leaving a visceral reaction on his face.
"I don't believe most of the stuff (Preacher Gary) said up here today," Little remarked after Birdsong had left. "I'm here to tell you about God's love not his hate."
He later would say that he never noticed that Gary was there and he was only at the Belk Tower to speak to the students about salvation.
People have said that these ministers are evil, some say they're entertainment and other have said they're preaching the Gospel truths. It's hard to find someone who's said they didn't notice them.
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