by Susan Drury
by Susan Drury
This Saturday is 7/7/07, and given our collective penchant for numerology, a lot is happening. The wedding venues are booked solid and Al Gore has settled on this auspicious day for his Live Earth concerts to highlight the menace of global warming (or at least showcase some pretty good music) to the denizens of New York, Shanghai, London, Rio and a few other far-flung cities.
But this is Nashville, and we’re having a revival.
LP Field is hosting The Call: tens of thousands of devout Christians fasting, praying and crying out to God for a “massive” youth revival and a wave of spiritual awakening for the country. Organizers say The Call is a 40-year corrective to the Summer of Love and the beginnings of the sexual revolution (very bad) and a celebration of the 400th year of the “planting of the cross” on American soil (excellent).
Lou Engle, founder of The Call, has spent much of the last few years in Washington, D.C., where he has presided over a group of ministries, including the Justice House of Prayer (JHOP). At JHOP, worshippers pray for the Supreme Court and political leaders 24 hours a day. Engle also started The Cause, a group of protesters who convey their dismay with abortion by covering their mouths with tape that has the word “life” printed on it. This group was also active at the Terri Schiavo brouhaha in Florida.
But now they’re here. Nashville is, Engle says, “a great place to believe that God can change history.” The Tennessee General Assembly apparently agrees, as the body passed a resolution honoring Engle and The Call, saying Engle “epitomizes the spirit and commitment that are characteristic of a true Tennessean.”
Engle, like most of the rest of the national leadership for The Call, is a charismatic evangelical Christian. He believes, among other things, that charismata—gifts of the spirit such as prophecy, speaking in tongues and healing—are an important and very real part of modern Christian life. Engle, whose colleagues call him a “prophet,” says that a prophetic vision led him to choose Nashville as the scene of The Call on 7/7/07.
Nashville is the gateway to the church in America, Engle says, and the church is part of the problem. By his lights, the culture has affected the church more than the church has affected the culture. He sees the church as bloated by compromise and comfort, not to mention personal sin. “We want a return to righteousness.... The church is poisoned…. We’re not being faithful in terms of our passion for Jesus,” he says.
Organizers of this gathering have put on big events before, and they have high hopes for this one. At the first Call event in D.C. in 2000, some 400,000 people showed up to fast and pray. Between 2001 and 2003, smaller Call events were held in Los Angeles (to pray for the entertainment industry), Boston (to pray for the liberal universities) and a handful of other cities. Scripturally, The Call is based on a passage in the book of Joel that says, to paraphrase, that when it looks like your country is going to hell, all is not lost: “Declare a holy fast! Call a sacred assembly!”
This Saturday is 7/7/07, and given our collective penchant for numerology, a lot is happening. The wedding venues are booked solid and Al Gore has settled on this auspicious day for his Live Earth concerts to highlight the menace of global warming (or at least showcase some pretty good music) to the denizens of New York, Shanghai, London, Rio and a few other far-flung cities.
But this is Nashville, and we’re having a revival.
LP Field is hosting The Call: tens of thousands of devout Christians fasting, praying and crying out to God for a “massive” youth revival and a wave of spiritual awakening for the country. Organizers say The Call is a 40-year corrective to the Summer of Love and the beginnings of the sexual revolution (very bad) and a celebration of the 400th year of the “planting of the cross” on American soil (excellent).
Lou Engle, founder of The Call, has spent much of the last few years in Washington, D.C., where he has presided over a group of ministries, including the Justice House of Prayer (JHOP). At JHOP, worshippers pray for the Supreme Court and political leaders 24 hours a day. Engle also started The Cause, a group of protesters who convey their dismay with abortion by covering their mouths with tape that has the word “life” printed on it. This group was also active at the Terri Schiavo brouhaha in Florida.
But now they’re here. Nashville is, Engle says, “a great place to believe that God can change history.” The Tennessee General Assembly apparently agrees, as the body passed a resolution honoring Engle and The Call, saying Engle “epitomizes the spirit and commitment that are characteristic of a true Tennessean.”
Engle, like most of the rest of the national leadership for The Call, is a charismatic evangelical Christian. He believes, among other things, that charismata—gifts of the spirit such as prophecy, speaking in tongues and healing—are an important and very real part of modern Christian life. Engle, whose colleagues call him a “prophet,” says that a prophetic vision led him to choose Nashville as the scene of The Call on 7/7/07.
Nashville is the gateway to the church in America, Engle says, and the church is part of the problem. By his lights, the culture has affected the church more than the church has affected the culture. He sees the church as bloated by compromise and comfort, not to mention personal sin. “We want a return to righteousness.... The church is poisoned…. We’re not being faithful in terms of our passion for Jesus,” he says.
Organizers of this gathering have put on big events before, and they have high hopes for this one. At the first Call event in D.C. in 2000, some 400,000 people showed up to fast and pray. Between 2001 and 2003, smaller Call events were held in Los Angeles (to pray for the entertainment industry), Boston (to pray for the liberal universities) and a handful of other cities. Scripturally, The Call is based on a passage in the book of Joel that says, to paraphrase, that when it looks like your country is going to hell, all is not lost: “Declare a holy fast! Call a sacred assembly!”
These are not your mainline Presbyterians. Nor are they Rick Warren-style pastors intent on broadening evangelicals’ priorities to include such issues as AIDS in Africa and—even—global warming. The focus here is on purity—a “radical purity.” The Call leaders are focused on the need for repentance for believers. Their attentions lean heavily into the sins, as they describe them, of homosexuality, abortion, pornography and premarital sex. They mention obsession with entertainment and material culture, occultism (including yoga) and racism.
James Goll, the event’s Nashville steering committee chairman, runs an organization called the Encounters Network and writes books on intercessory prayer. Goll says organizers are expecting a big crowd and are hoping to draw people from every denomination. “That’s very important to us,” he says. “You have to have unity.” The local organizing committee includes musicians Michael W. Smith and Ricky Skaggs.
Goll says that, in the name of unity, there will be no official speaking in tongues from the stage because it’s divisive among believers. But even so, The Call is not for the theologically mild. The event will be intense, he says, with weeping and “intense intercession.” “This event is just about seeking the face of God,” he says.
Christian musicians and luminaries will be milling around LP Field and performing, but the staff will not advertise names of speakers or performers. “It’s not a festival, it’s a fast” is the tagline for the event, and they mean it. There will be no food served during the 12-hour proceeding.
This purity of mission is a real draw. You could hit a charismatic event most weekends of the year around the country, and there is a sort of Christian industrial complex of books, tapes and workshops for the devoted to buy. But this event is free, and there will be no merchandise for sale. Bryan McCrea, pastor of Grace Covenant Fellowship in Toccoa, Ga., says that’s part of what appeals to him. He took one of his children and his youth group to The Call in 2000 and says it was a great experience. Speaking of Lou Engle, he says, “I think Lou’s intense. I think he’s the real deal. He’s certainly not trying to make money. I think he really believes in young people.... He wants young people to serve God intensely.”
For Engle and others involved, praying together for the salvation of the country, for repentance, for God to come down and swamp the city with an overwhelming revival is a very specific act that should yield specific, “measurable” results. If it works, Engle says, “We will see a change in statistics in terms of teen pregnancy, divorce rates, AIDS, HIV. We would see in the political realm where the leaders would represent fundamental moral values.”
The next national Call after 7/7/07 will be in the fall of 2008 in Washington, D.C. Fall, 2008, you say? Are we talking politics?
Absolutely.
Engle claims the 2000 event had a role in George W. Bush’s election. “We believe it was the prayers of the church which ultimately decided the outcome of that struggle, as God intervened in human affairs in response to our intercession,” he writes. Engle says years of intense prayer contributed to the Supreme Court’s ruling to end so-called “partial birth” abortion. “I have to believe that. I’ve given...years to that,” he says.
Goll says there’s been debate among the planners about how much political talk there will be at the event. But in Engle’s summons on the group’s website, he says the 2006 elections were a “wake-up call” for the country. He says 2008 is an important election and that two main issues—abortion and gay marriage—are front and center. In an appearance on GOD TV, Engle talked about his main man for 2008, Sen. Sam Brownback (who is running for the Republican presidential nomination). Brownback and Engle are good friends—Brownback lived with Engle for seven months after a fire damaged his D.C. apartment. Brownback is coming to The Call. “He is coming as a man to pray, not as a politician,” Engle explains.
So there is politics in all this, but it’s broader than that. The organizers want, as Engle puts it, “a third great awakening”—an outpouring of God across the nation where the churches are all filled, the Ten Commandments are posted in every courthouse, only married people have sex, nobody is gay, nobody ever gets an abortion, and everyone is a Christian. They believe in the power of fasting and corporate prayer to ignite such a revolution. “I’ve been praying for 25 years for a spiritual awakening,” Engle says.
One thing’s for sure: it ain’t going to be just another day at the ball field.
These are not your mainline Presbyterians. Nor are they Rick Warren-style pastors intent on broadening evangelicals’ priorities to include such issues as AIDS in Africa and—even—global warming. The focus here is on purity—a “radical purity.” The Call leaders are focused on the need for repentance for believers. Their attentions lean heavily into the sins, as they describe them, of homosexuality, abortion, pornography and premarital sex. They mention obsession with entertainment and material culture, occultism (including yoga) and racism.
James Goll, the event’s Nashville steering committee chairman, runs an organization called the Encounters Network and writes books on intercessory prayer. Goll says organizers are expecting a big crowd and are hoping to draw people from every denomination. “That’s very important to us,” he says. “You have to have unity.” The local organizing committee includes musicians Michael W. Smith and Ricky Skaggs.
Goll says that, in the name of unity, there will be no official speaking in tongues from the stage because it’s divisive among believers. But even so, The Call is not for the theologically mild. The event will be intense, he says, with weeping and “intense intercession.” “This event is just about seeking the face of God,” he says.
Christian musicians and luminaries will be milling around LP Field and performing, but the staff will not advertise names of speakers or performers. “It’s not a festival, it’s a fast” is the tagline for the event, and they mean it. There will be no food served during the 12-hour proceeding.
This purity of mission is a real draw. You could hit a charismatic event most weekends of the year around the country, and there is a sort of Christian industrial complex of books, tapes and workshops for the devoted to buy. But this event is free, and there will be no merchandise for sale. Bryan McCrea, pastor of Grace Covenant Fellowship in Toccoa, Ga., says that’s part of what appeals to him. He took one of his children and his youth group to The Call in 2000 and says it was a great experience. Speaking of Lou Engle, he says, “I think Lou’s intense. I think he’s the real deal. He’s certainly not trying to make money. I think he really believes in young people.... He wants young people to serve God intensely.”
For Engle and others involved, praying together for the salvation of the country, for repentance, for God to come down and swamp the city with an overwhelming revival is a very specific act that should yield specific, “measurable” results. If it works, Engle says, “We will see a change in statistics in terms of teen pregnancy, divorce rates, AIDS, HIV. We would see in the political realm where the leaders would represent fundamental moral values.”
The next national Call after 7/7/07 will be in the fall of 2008 in Washington, D.C. Fall, 2008, you say? Are we talking politics?
Absolutely.
Engle claims the 2000 event had a role in George W. Bush’s election. “We believe it was the prayers of the church which ultimately decided the outcome of that struggle, as God intervened in human affairs in response to our intercession,” he writes. Engle says years of intense prayer contributed to the Supreme Court’s ruling to end so-called “partial birth” abortion. “I have to believe that. I’ve given...years to that,” he says.
Goll says there’s been debate among the planners about how much political talk there will be at the event. But in Engle’s summons on the group’s website, he says the 2006 elections were a “wake-up call” for the country. He says 2008 is an important election and that two main issues—abortion and gay marriage—are front and center. In an appearance on GOD TV, Engle talked about his main man for 2008, Sen. Sam Brownback (who is running for the Republican presidential nomination). Brownback and Engle are good friends—Brownback lived with Engle for seven months after a fire damaged his D.C. apartment. Brownback is coming to The Call. “He is coming as a man to pray, not as a politician,” Engle explains.
So there is politics in all this, but it’s broader than that. The organizers want, as Engle puts it, “a third great awakening”—an outpouring of God across the nation where the churches are all filled, the Ten Commandments are posted in every courthouse, only married people have sex, nobody is gay, nobody ever gets an abortion, and everyone is a Christian. They believe in the power of fasting and corporate prayer to ignite such a revolution. “I’ve been praying for 25 years for a spiritual awakening,” Engle says.
One thing’s for sure: it ain’t going to be just another day at the ball field.
