Prominent evangelical pastors, authors, and musicians were featured at a recent prayer gathering that took place on Saturday at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. called "Together 2016," during which Christians petitioned for change "” a "reset' "” in their families, in churches, and in the country as a whole.
Organized by an evangelistic group called PULSE, the event gathered crowds of thousands, and the lineup of speakers included pastor and author Francis Chan, rappers Lecrae and Trip Lee, apologist Ravi Zacharias, former Southern Baptist Convention president Ronnie Floyd, author Ann Voksamp, and author and spoken word artist Amena Brown, among dozens of others. Hillsong United, Matthew West, Crowder, Passion, Lauren Daigle, Michael W. Smith, and Jeremy Camp were among the worship artists featured at the event.
Pope Francis also shared a few words through a video message, encouraging attendees to "find the one who can give [them] an answer to [their] restlessness."
Throughout the all-day event which lasted from 9 AM to 4 PM, speakers pointed to Jesus as the one who can bring change and healing, and some referenced recent incidents of violence, such as ones that involved the police in Dallas and Baton Rouge.
"Jesus can heal our nation. Jesus can heal relationships," said Ronnie Floyd.
"There's nothing too great in your life that God can't reset," said apologist Josh McDowell, sharing his own story of surviving abuse during his childhood, "nor anything too small that He's not interested in."
Nick Hall, the leader of PULSE, said an in interview with the Washington Post previous to the event that he hopes the event could stir unity and help people to be hopeful.
"Everything now is protests: "I'm against this,' or "I hate that,'" Hall said. "We really believe there is a longing to come together. We don't have to agree on everything, but we can come together around the hope of Jesus "¦ There are moments when God's people come together, and God does something that can heal, change, define generations."
