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A group of students circle the preachers on the Oval, some listening for fun, others ready to hurl harsh words.
After one of the preachers called a student a “sperm-eater,” a different student answered back and called him a “fascist.”
Each spring, Brother Jed makes his pilgrimage to Ohio State’s Oval. He comes with his wife, Sister Cindy, and fellow preachers Brother Bro and Brother David.
Based in Columbia, Mo., Brother Jed, whose real name is Jed Smock, travels to universities across the country delivering his message to students.
“We want to teach and preach the Bible,” Smock said. “And prepare the students for their final exam – judgment.”
Smock said the path to salvation is repentance of sin, belief in Jesus Christ and obedience to God. While this sounds simple enough, Smock found fault in seemingly normal student behavior.
“God’s going to be tanning your hide for good one of these days,” Smock yelled to a shirtless man tossing a Frisbee.
Students accuse the preachers of advocating racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views.
“He called me a stupid Jew,” said Corey Washer, a sophomore in psychology, referring to Smock’s partner, Brother Bro.
“He said there would be another Holocaust at the end of time and since I did not accept Jesus, I would die in this Holocaust,” Washer said. “He also said the first Holocaust was divine punishment for the Jews’ rejection of Christ.”
L.J. Hose, a sophomore in political science and international studies, recalls Brother Bro saying “slavery was God’s will for black crimes.”
Hose, who is black, said the preacher’s presence served no purpose.
“It’s pointless for him to be out here because people who are faith based won’t waste their time,” Hose said.
The preachers also direct their ire at Muslims and people of other faiths, students said.
“They say all Muslims go around killing people,” said Michelle Mendel, a senior in religious studies. But Mendel, who is a Muslim, did not leave the circle of students around the preachers, saying she shows up “mainly because this is hilarious.”
Mendel started a Facebook group for people who attend the Oval sermons called “Crazy Preachers on the Oval.” The group’s main page lists offenses the preachers have mentioned worthy of damnation, including being Catholic, Jewish, Muslim or homosexual.
On Tuesday, the preachers also elicited a response from fellow Christians. Members of the student worship group Real Life sat on a couch in the Oval as Brother Jed and his fellow preachers spoke nearby.
“Basically we’re just out here to have conversations with people if they’ve been hurt by religion,” said Annie Robinson, a sophomore in international studies.
Others imitated Smock and his fellow preachers and started their own Oval-based sermons.
Lorne Hlad, a junior in political science, came out to the Oval “just as a student,” but preached his own version of the gospel.
Denouncing Smock for preaching “more about sin than salvation,” Hlad said “hatemongering is the only message people are hearing” in Smock’s speech. Hlad’s words focused more on Christianity’s promise of redemption and love than its admonition against sin.
“Christ loves you,” Hlad said. “He doesn’t damn you.”
For all the conflict and controversy Smock’s ministering on the Oval brought, Mendel, a Muslim, and Washer, a Jew, said the preacher’s words have a positive, though unintentional side effect: The pair are now friends after spending time together watching preachers on the Oval.
“They bring people together in a really cool way,” Mendel said.
Wilson Dizard can be reached at [email protected].
