Michael Overd, 49, denies the charges. He has preached in Taunton for the last five-and-a-half years, according to the organisation Christian Concern.
Mr Overd is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, which is part of Christian Concern.
Avon and Somerset Police said he'd been charged on three separate occasions last year for using "threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby".
On the third count, "the offence was religiously aggravated".
The two-day trial is expected to finish tomorrow.
