Protestants Gather In Nashville for Repentance and Revival and Set Example for Catholic Bishops and Laity

Catholic Bishops ought to be very attentive to this event. It is on-target in its urgency and symbolism. The Nashville event exemplifies and strengthens the priority of a recent call to the Bishops by Vote Life, Canada! to put on sack cloth and ashes and to declare a national fast. The purpose of such a fast would be to “seek repentance and forgiveness for the disobedience of too many Bishops and the profanation of the Holy Eucharist.”

At least 55,000 Christians, mostly charismatic Evangelicals, from all over North America and countries as far away as Mongolia, gathered for The Call Nashville on Saturday July 7, 2007 [07-07-07] to demonstrate their repentance and to launch a counter movement to the sexual revolution of the sixties. Many had prepared themselves for weeks and even months for this event through special times of fasting and prayer.

Baptist Press reported

The sins of a nation drew an estimated 55,000 believers to Nashville July 7 to convene a "solemn assembly" and pray for spiritual awakening among America's young people.

The Tennessean introduced their story

A nation in moral decay — where abortions are performed, pornography is rampant and sex scandals sully the church — needs a miracle, say tens of thousands of Christians who believe prayers rising out of Nashville on a single day can turn the country around.

The Ledger, Lakeland, FL reported on the event,

Seven is regarded as a number that symbolized perfection or completion, according to biblical scholars, and so today's date - 7/7/07 - is considered portentous by some Christian leaders.

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[The Call] is intended to bring together young people to pray and fast to correct America's "moral collapse," according to the event's Web site (www.thecall.com). At least two churches in Tampa are sending buses to Nashville to participate.

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The Call was organized by Pentecostal preacher Lou Engle, who also runs Justice House of Prayer in Washington, an office where young people sing and pray around the clock for political leaders and causes associated with religious conservatives. Engle had organized several similar events in the past, and chose this date, according to the Web site, not only because of the recurrence of the number seven but also because this is the 40th anniversary of the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco in 1967, which Engle said marked the beginning of "generational rebellion."

The Rev. Stephen Strader, pastor of Ignited Church in Lakeland, is familiar with The Call and explained that the two numbers have symbolic significance.

"Seven is a unique number. It's the number of completion. A 40-year cycle is ended, and a new generation is being raised up. They're calling the youth of the nation to pray and fast for revival so moral decay and abortion would be broken," he said.

According to LifeSiteNews.com

Supporters and leaders of the pro-life movement also attended the national prayer gathering. Many of these were heading to Wichita, Kansas, for a second gathering called "The Wichita Awakening." Taking place on July 14-16, this event is specifically devoted to praying for an end to abortion in the US.

CBN carries great video on the event.

4MYCanada has been planning for months to participate in The Call and no doubt will soon have a report on their road trip to Nashville. Be sure to visit their website later for a report.