Thousands Gather At the Square for Night of Worship

Tuesday, 30 August 2011 00:10

Thousands Gather At the Square for Night of Worship

Written by Lynne LaMaster

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"Night of Worship" brings thousands of local church attendees to the Courthouse square Sunday night.

musiccrowd An unofficial estimate of 7000 people gathered at the Courthouse Square Sunday evening for a Night of Worship, led by recording artists Justin Unger and Eppie Vicente.

Unger, who has released several albums, and is also the worship leader at The Heights Church on Larry Caldwell Drive, explained, "We did this just to bring together the body of Christ. It was a dream that all of us worship leaders had been having ever since we got into ministry, and we were able to finally put it into fruition. And God laid it on my heart earlier this summer to call everyone and pull it together and it just came together. Yeah!"

Eppie Vicente, a local business owner and much-requested vocalist told eNewsAZ, "I think what it was, mostly was that, we just felt personally, that everyone has different churches, and we just stuck to our church. We wanted to break down the four walls of the church, because, let's be realistic, not everyone's going to come to church. We know that, and we wanted to bring this to them, and show how powerful music is."

Vicente continued, "Music saved my life; I was born and raised here in Prescott, I'd come to all these bars when I was younger. The last concert I had here, myself, four years ago, singing on Whiskey Row, secular music, which I still love. Then God changed my heart, and to see this, this many people show up, it's overwhelming to me in how powerfully we were able to get all the churches to unite as one. That was our whole goal."

Onstage, Unger said, was a combination of a worship leaders from a variety of churches:

Chris Harrington from Prescott Christian Church
Joey Kauffman and Sarah Reed from Cornerstone
Suzanne and Chad Dixon from LifePoint Church
Heights Youth Worship Band from UCYC: Dave Vackes, Jordan Rowan and Dan Thompson
Justin Unger, Eppie Vicente, Brad Stretar, and Wendell Graber from the Heights Church

In a short message describing what being a Christian is about, Pastor John Dickerson from Cornerstone reminded the crowd that although people may go to different churches, they are still united in Christ. And, at the end, Pastor Scott Mitchell from the Church Next Door said, "The question isn't who you are. The question is whose you are," and urged those listening to make this night of worship a regular, personal event in their lives.

Mitchell mentioned that unity was important in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Arizona. After which, one young teenager asked, "Why stop in Arizona? We need to get busy now! We're on a roll!"

What was the response to the two and a half hour evening of singing and worship? Facebook comments could actually be called raves:

"It was an amazing evening!!"

"Such a incredible Night of Worship!! Over 4000 singing His praises on the Courthouse lawn...such a sweet sound. Thank you for coming out and to those prayer warriors that could not attend. We are 1st of all believers in Christ! An epic event...'til next time~"

"Worship downtown was soo powerful. Jesus was lifted high tonight..."

"Yes, it was awesome! We are so fortunate to live in a country and city where we can openly worship God!"

"Amazing evening, can't believe it was allowed to happen at our courthouse square. You did a great job spreading God's word, and the music was awesome."

"God is so good, looks like a great gathering, praise Him!"

"Awesome!"

"Just arrived home from the first of many "NIGHT OF WORSHIP" I am in awe of the amazing unifying power that our Father displayed tonight! So thankful to live in this city!"

"It was a sweet time of fellowship between the churches! Praise JESUS that we can come together as ONE unified body in JESUS - the body of Christ supercedes the walls of churches! This kind of event needs to be a regular occurence! Thank you everyone who led worship last night and for all the people who helped put it together. it was great! Hallelujah!"

"It was amazing, moving, awe inspiring, unifying and SO MANY PEOPLE! Great work, Justin and everyone else involved in making this come together and look so effortless."

"POWER-FULL!! Not that I would expect anything less from the God we serve! Thanks Justin for being always faithful to His leading!!"

"Very inspiring. Impressed by the unity. God is Great!"

"Thanks to everyone who made this happen. It was a great evening. I was so happy to see SOO many people at the square."

"It was GREAT! Glad to see such a huge turnout. We NEED to do this again SOON!"

So, what about it? Will there be another Night of Worship on the Square? Unger's smile was a little tired, but exuberant just the same, "We feel so blessed about how the Lord brought everyone together, and it's one of those things, we just want to make sure it's special. Maybe it'll be four times a year - we'd love to do it quarterly, it's a lot of work, but we'll see what God does."