On Palm Sunday, March 29th, The Gathering Waco brought together over 30,000 people at Baylor’s McLane Stadium across racial, denominational, and social lines for one purpose: To worship Jesus as a united people! Over 200 churches were represented and 98 churches specifically signed up to serve as “sponsors” of the event that was the largest gathering of Christians in the history of Waco!
In addition to the attendance in the stadium, KXXV broadcast The Gathering live 5pm to 7pm, pre-empting regular ABC programming with a reach of almost 1 million homes. KWTX also broadcast it via live streaming on their website where it was viewed in 16 countries, including 586 US cities where it was viewed on a mobile device and 743 US cities where it was viewed on a desktop computer. In addition, KBBW broadcast is live on 1010AM and Amistad Radio, 96.7FM, provided the platform for the Spanish translation. In the days ahead, the world’s third largest short wave radio station based in Fort Worth will be broadcasting The Gathering and it has the potential to reach 1.7 billion homes.
Israel Houghton set the tone for the night as he led the crowd in worship by singing “How Great Is Our God” followed by “How Great Thou Art”. Dr. Tony Evans challenged the crowd to passionately follow after Christ, and testimonies by Baylor QB Bryce Petty and HGTV “Fixer Upper’s” Joanna Gaines led into ministry moments throughout the stadium.
Ramiro Pena, pastor of Christ The King Baptist Church and also the Executive Director of The Gathering, was adamant from the beginning about wanting to make a practical impact in Waco. From this grew the canned goods drive that brought in 23,727 pounds of food to be distributed to local food banks through Caritas and Shepherd’s Heart.
Organizers of the event, all local pastors from diverse backgrounds, declared that this was more than just a large worship service; they believe it is the beginning of a global movement of unity in the Body of Christ! With calls coming in from all across the US and the world, The Gathering is gaining momentum to explode beyond Waco!
So the big question is: Will The Gathering happen again next year? That answer is coming soon and any announcement will be made via Facebook or at www.TheGatheringWaco.com. However, given the calls coming from around the world, The Gathering may next be taking place in another city around the world.