Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Fulton Street Revival anniversary conference - Update 2
Report from Peter Armstrong. Peter is worship director at Bellevue CRC and a student at Fuller Seminary NW in Seattle. He is currently studying at Calvin Theological Seminary and interning at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Read his previous report.
“One man’s obedience to prayer…began a revival…that transformed a nation.” This quote about Jeremiah Lamphier brings us back to the 150th Anniversary of the Fulton Street Revival conference, held September 21-23 at the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan. It is certainly the only worship conference I have attended in which the President of Iran would be in the same room 24 hours later (he spoke at the Hilton on Monday). And yet this very fact illustrates the importance of New York City as a global city that could be a huge influence for the Gospel around the world. The importance of NYC was also illustrated by Saturday’s morning speaker, Jack Hayford, who told us that he flew out from Los Angeles to deliver a thirty minute talk; talking to Christian leaders about revival in New York City was worth that sacrifice in his mind.
Hayford discussed the power of worship, focusing on Isaiah 54 and God’s command to the barren woman to sing. His message was a tremendous reminder of what corporate worship is really all about. After all the planning, preparation, musical arrangements and liturgical calendars, it is easy to forget—at least for me—that God is using corporate worship to equip the Church in its mission to the world. Again, speaking from personal experience, it is so difficult to get out of the routine of “Uh-oh, Sunday’s coming!” and back into a proper mindset of awe at what God can do through corporate worship. In that sense, Hayford’s sermon hit home. He called us to the promise that our desolate cities would be inhabited. He reminded us that the song of our praises is continuously being sung in heaven. I hope that this message can be an encouragement to all of you weary worship planners, pastors, musicians and staff out there.
On Saturday night, I attended a citywide prayer meeting at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn. This is one of the most attended churches in the United States, with 27,000 people coming through these doors every Sunday. Even though it is served by the subway and buses, the parking lot is huge! I was greeted wonderfully. Oh that all of our churches could have this kind of hospitality. “Welcome, sir. Grace and peace. Grace and peace. Thanks for being here…” Originally, I was not going to attend this prayer meeting because it was an extracurricular part of the conference. The plan was to get together for dinner with some friends of mine from the Christian Reformed Church who are planting a church in Lower Manhattan (see cityfellowshipchurch.com). But we all decided that we get to eat and pray with other Reformed, Caucasian folks all the time and really wanted to get the chance to attend a prayer meeting with Christians from across the denominational and racial lines. And it proved to be another wonderful experience of worship that got me out of my comfort zone.
The service started with a couple of familiar songs of praise. The worship leaders were from Christian Cultural Center. They were incredibly gifted musicians. I appreciated the way they sensitively led the songs, providing variety in dynamics and feel. And yet they didn’t overwhelm the congregation and take long extended solos to show off their chops, which could have been distracting to some. Following the worship set, five pastors from each of the five boroughs came to the front and led in prayer for the great needs of each borough. It was truly a wonderful occasion to have representatives from every area of New York City coming together in prayer, crossing denominational, ethnic, cultural and gender lines (the pastor from Staten Island was a woman). What would happen if more of our major cities—or even our small towns—would lay aside their differences, recall their unity in Christ, and pray fervently for their community?
Later in the service, five youth pastors from around the city came on stage in order to pray for the younger generations growing up now in the gritty, difficult context of New York City. These prayers were fervent and heartfelt as well, addressing God on behalf of the single mothers, youth tempted by drugs and gangs and the challenges of the New York City public school system, which struggles mightily. The Fulton Street Revival in 1857 was focused on spiritual and social ills. The hearts of worshipers today should be no different. Those involved in the leadership of the conference affirmed and exemplified that, even in our times of worship and prayer together.
The citywide prayer event concluded the Fulton Street Revival conference for me. We were encouraged to attend local churches on Sunday morning, but the idea was raised that my wife and I host a house church at the home where we are staying. Our house church of seven conference attendees was a nice balance to many of the large, boisterous worship events we were involved in throughout the weekend. It was nice to remember that worship is seven folks with an acoustic guitar, singing prayer and praise, telling stories of God’s faithfulness in their lives. And besides, on September 23, 1857, exactly 150 years ago, only six showed up to pray. I wonder how God will use the seven of us…
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