LITTLE ROCK — Tens of thousands of Christians gathered for the 2009 Central Arkansas CityFest with evangelist Luis Palau.
Thousands more are expected to attend 2010 CityFest events in Little Rock, including a citywide prayer service Thursday and a mammoth Christian music concert Oct. 2 at War Memorial Stadium.
“We’ve got some really exciting things going on,” said Charlie Conklin, executive director of the Nehemiah Network, a coalition of Christian pastors and business leaders that is helping to organize the events.
Leading a day-long pastor’s prayer conference and the citywide evening of prayer will be pastor Jim Cymbala of BrooklynTabernacle, one of New York City’s largest megachurches.
Cymbala is the author of the best-selling book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, and his church’s midweek evening prayer meetings attract thousands of worshippers.
Accompanying Cymbala will be vocalists from the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, a Grammy-winning gospel group.
With its focus on prayer, Thursday will be “a day of strengthening and rejuvenation,” Conklin said.
Harry Li, a pastor at Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, said Cymbala is “a powerful man of prayer and he’s coming here mainly to encourage pastors, to refresh them, [and] to encourage them to pray more.”
The Oct. 2 event at War Me-morial Stadium will include preaching, a three-on-three basketball competition, a dodgeball tournament, a battle of the bands and a “Compassion Village” - a place where nonprofit charitable groups can promote the work they’re doing in the community.
The biggest draw, though, may be the music.
Grammy winner Fred Hammond, whose Love Unstoppable CD climbed to No. 25 on the Billboard charts after its release in 2009, is perhaps the biggest name on the marquee.
Another Grammy-nominated act, Red, is also scheduled to appear. The Christian rock band from Nashville, Tenn., had a hit with its 2006 debut CD, End of Silence, which was followed by Innocence and Instinct in 2009.
Crunk rockers Family Force 5 and yet another Grammy nominee, Christian hip-hoprecording artist Flame, are also set to take the stage.
CityFest 2010 won’t end with the concert. Organizers are also planning a monthlong Season of Service throughout October where people can volunteer for charitable causes.
Li says this year’s event is attracting broad support across the denominational and cultural spectrum.
“I’ve never seen a level of excitement and expectation that I’ve seen with this year’s CityFest,” Li said.
The reFresh Pastor’s Prayer Conference begins at 8:30 a.m.Thursday at Immanuel Baptist Church. The citywide Evening of Prayer starts at 7 p.m. at Second Baptist Church on John Barrow Road. The War Memorial Stadium basketball tournament gets under way at 8 a.m. Oct. 2. Other activities start at noon and the concert kicks off at 4 p.m. More information is available at www.centralar kansascityfest.com.
Religion, Pages 12 on 09/25/2010