Evangelicals on D.C. Mall pray for hope and reconciliation
Rappers and pastors, spoken word poets and authors appealed Saturday to thousands of evangelicals gathered around the Washington Monument in baking heat to recommit to prayer and hope at a time of intense racial and political polarization and growing secularism.
People streamed into prayer tents, asking volunteers for prayers to "reset" their lives, their families, their country. They got on their knees by the thousands, appealing to God to "break racism" at the call of charismatic evangelist Lou Engle. They told personal stories of division in their lives that brought them to America's capital for what aimed to be one of the bigger faith outreach events in the United States in years.
Calling people to their knees on the grass, Engle shouted references to Minneapolis, Ferguson and Dallas — now shorthand for America's modern-day racial violence, places where police killed black men or where, more recently, a black soldier gunned down five white police officers.
In the audience was Heather Crowe, who came from Pennsylvania with her daughter and other female relatives seeking healing. Recently neighbors and even relatives had chided her 18-year-old daughter for dating an African-American, saying "Are you serious?" Between that and the recent police-involved killings, she said a big Christian concert suddenly seemed needed. Her family is white.
"It became more apparent we needed to be here, to feel like we were united," Crowe said. Of her daughter, who is heading to college this fall, she said: "As a mother, you're anxious for what the future holds for her. I've always told her to be a light in the darkness."
The 12-hour event called "Together" features some of the biggest-name musicians and evangelists in contemporary evangelical Christianity. It is aimed at more theologically conservative young evangelicals, with organizers calling it a "reset" for Christians who feel exhausted from battling the mainstream culture and sidelined by secularism.
"I think a lot of believers that are teenagers feel that they're the only Christian on their [sports] team, the only Christian who works at the McDonald's where they work." The huge concert-style gathering shows these young people "the church is alive," Mark Hall, a youth pastor who is the lead singer of the rock band Casting Crowns, said after their set. "Teenagers need moments."
Hall said the timing of the long-planned event, falling amid violent events worldwide, is fated. "It's something that God saw coming. He saw that we were gonna need it."
Experts and evangelists said the lineup was remarkably diverse — racially, culturally and gender-wise — in a country of homogeneous churches. A key theme among speakers and attendees was the need for more unity and reconciliation. Popular writer Ann Voskamp and spoken word poet Amena Brown joined for an intense poem-prayer weaving images of Native Americans, slave ships and cotton pickers.
"Together" is the brainchild of 34-year-old evangelist and event-planner Nick Hall. Almost all of the people appearing at the event Saturday are evangelical, but Hall was to share a greeting from Pope Francis.
"We're not saying it's time to compromise scripture," Hall told the crowd. "But there is something about reaching across the aisle. . .We didn't come for a show, we didn't come for a concert..We need to hear from heaven!"
This story was originally published July 17, 2016 at 6:58 AM with the headline "Evangelicals on D.C. Mall pray for hope and reconciliation."