There was a buzz at Mississippi State University Friday afternoon when a group from Consuming Fire Fellowship Church in Centerville, Mississippi, came to do what is called “open air” preaching.  Men and women from the church stood with various signs and pamphlets and conversed with students while one man from the group loudly preached the Bible.
At first, the group stood in front of the Colvard Student Union facing the post office, but were later asked to move to the grassy area between Lee Hall and the Union.
Stephen Keaton, a member of the group, said they were present on campus to preach the gospel.  
“Jesus Christ came to save people from their sin, and if you obey Jesus and the Bible, you will go to live with him forever. If you reject Jesus and disobey the Bible then you will go to hell,” Keaton said.
Keaton said this was the first time the group had been on campus at MSU, and it has plans to visit other university campuses.
Many of the protestors held signs featuring messages such as “Sodomy is sin” and “Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.” 
Keaton wore a sign on his chest that read “Warning to all… God’s judgment is coming!!” 
Around noon, traffic in front of the Union picked up, and more than 60 students stopped to watch the preachers. By 12:30 p.m., almost 100 onlookers gathered and a group of students joined hands and stood behind the preacher singing the hymn “Jesus Loves Me.” As the preacher grew in volume, the singers sang even louder.
A few students made impromptu signs in response to the preaching. One sign read “Free Hugs,” and the bearer would embrace anyone who approached him. Another sign read “Jumbotron 2:1 – Go to Hell Ole Miss,” a reference to the social media trend referring to the south end zone Jumbtron at Davis Wade Stadium “Lord Jumbotron.”
When the crowd was very large, one student led everyone in the Maroon & White chant, which happens during MSU sporting events.
The general student opinion was the group was here in protest of October being LGBTQ History month, since one of the signs quoted Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
Rachel Giardina, sophomore at MSU, was part of the group of students singing. Giardina said she knew why she thought students were chanting and singing over the preacher.
“The goal was to get the church group to hear that we’re proud of who we are as a school rather than where we are as a religion,” Giardina said.
While the protestors preached Bible scriptures and let the crowd know “living in sin” is not acceptable to God, Chartese Jones, graduate student at MSU, said the protestors should try approaching students in a benevolent way.
“Instead of them telling everyone what they’re doing wrong, he should tell them what they are doing right,” Jones said. “Tell them they are doing a good job going to class and going to school. If you tell them what they are doing right, they will listen to you. Like if I told you, your hair is so pretty, you’re going to be flattered. You’re going to really listen to what I have to say and have an open mind because I gave you a compliment. It’s all about delivering things, and if you deliver things right a lot of things would be so much better in the world.”
Matt Deberry, junior marketing major, said he felt strongly in opposition to the way the preachers handled their protest.
“I just would not say this is the correct way to go about getting out your message,” he said.
Deberry said instead of informing people of how they live wrong, he would focus on God’s love. 
“I would say God is love, and communicating a message of hate goes against the very foundation of what Christianity stands upon,” he said. “I wouldn’t publicly be screaming at people and be acting in this manner.”