Henry Blackaby, who wrote the "Experiencing God" series, impacting millions of Christians nationwide said...
This year, as always, we require that every worship and prayer leader, scripture reader, and volunteer read and agree to abide by this document and our Core Values. Please view our website links at
https://WorshipCity.com and join our Facebook Page,
https://www.facebook.com/WorshipCityUS for updates and watch all 4 of our "Prep for the Tents" Zoom calls leading up to this event.
Also, go to
https://www.youtube.com/@WorshipCityTV to see Highlight videos from past events.
FOCUS
This year's tent event is not only our love-song to Jesus in worship, prayer, scripture reading, and personal evangelism, but the central theme is responding to God's desire that we repent so He will hear... and heal our land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 We also have a heart to include children in this non-stop prayer meeting, so we have "Children's Corner" where parents can hold the mic for kids who want to pray or read a scripture! We've seen whole nations being transformed by the spirit of the Lord through children's prayers!
We also want to share the love and hope that comes from a real relationship with Jesus through a totally surrendered life. There will be lots of worship and ministering unto the Lord. A key to this is repenting of all displeasing things to God in our lives. This is the only way to experience freedom, His Presence, and a life of joy. It's also the ONLY way our churches and country can experience true awakening and revival. It begins at the cross!
We are not promoting any social or political viewpoint, we're not protesting anything, we're not focused on ministering to the people OR performing FOR them under the tents. Our ultimate goal is to give Jesus the love, adoration, glory and honor that He is due, and come into proper alignment with His Word. Ministry and outreach to people, including our evangelism teams will be a natural outgrowth of this non-stop prayer meeting/altar call, accompanied by our worship, prayer, and scripture reading.
Evangelism and opportunities for prayer ministry will be plentiful , including scheduled evangelism outreaches and prayer walks throughout the city with 3 different teams who lead evangelism efforts full-time. We thank Dick Eastman of Every Home for Christ, Jason Hershey of David's Tent DC, and many other state, national, and global leaders for their encouragement and help as we founded Worship City back in 2011 as an International Trademark and legal 501c3 organization... and out of this, David's Tent Tennessee was birthed in 2015. These leaders have been a great, ongoing encouragement to all our leaders!
METHODS
This year, we will ALL BE TOGETHER UNDER ONE LARGE CLUSTER OF TENTS WITH AN 11 FOOT CROSS ERECTED RIGHT IN THE CENTER! All our worship, scripture and prayer will revolve not only around thanksgiving, praise, and adoration, but will focus on repenting of OUR OWN sins and the sins of God's people, and rekindling the fear of the Lord and His Holy Word. We ask that there be no talking, preaching, teaching, political opinions, or prophetic prayer decrees under the tent.
We desire this to be a holy place and solemn assembly, where humble, seeking hearts petition the Lord, are cleansed and delivered of personal sins, and are transformed to beat with HIS heart and mind... beginning with us as Christians. This event is a time to humbly cry out to our Holy Lord, God Almighty, for His mercy and grace for us, our state and nation... in deep reverence... beginning with Church Leaders and Christian Ministers, as the Bible teaches we are to lead by example!
There will be a prayer rug surrounding the cross where anyone can kneel at any time and write out their prayers of repentance (personal and corporate), as God convicts and leads us, and a private, locked box at the foot of the cross to insert those prayers.
Participants can apply to lead in worship, prayer, scripture reading, as well as volunteering in various ways, including joining our national team of evangelists. We will have evangelism teams on the plaza as well as others going out from the tents to reach people in various other places across Nashville. We will have 3 "Need Prayer?" signs and prayer at the cross will be offered to all who enter, as well as in all places under and outside the tents. All leaders who have applied to participate are given a Worship City badge with our logo and their name to verify they are authorized to oversee the ministries on the Plaza. (If someone is not wearing a badge, they are not authorized to pray for visitors by our leadership. This is for your protection.) At 2 PM Saturday afternoon, ministers will begin baptizing those who have been saved in a warm, water-filled trough.
VALUES
When you participate at Worship City, we ask you to abide by our core values. Please read our Core Values before you apply and agree below to participate in this event. You can read them by Clicking Here:
https://worshipcity.com/core-values (password is case sensitive: WorshipCityValues2023). We trust you will embody and protect these values that explain who we are at Worship City. These values should guide all of your actions during this event, both inside and outside the tents on the Plaza. Our focus is to minister to and please an audience of ONE - and that is Jesus!
PRODUCT RESOURCES & DONATIONS
No one is making money from this event, but we do really need donations to cover the expenses of this event. We don't offer payment to worship teams or anyone else working at the tents. This is all volunteer-based ministry to the Lord. We also have a legal agreement with the Plaza Administrators that we will not be publicly selling anything during the event. This also helps protect our core identity as a freely-offered love song to Jesus, rather than a performance venue. Worship City has to raise over $6,000 to provide for the expenses of this ministry event. If you would like to donate funds for this event, please go to:
https://worshipcity.com/donations or our Venmo page at:
https://venmo.com/u/WorshipCityCOME PREPARED
This is an outdoor event, so watch the weather and come prepared! Normally the weather is mild or even warm at this time of year. In wet weather, umbrellas and rain coats will be needed as you walk the plaza. Port-a-potties for all participants, including evangelists, volunteers, worship and prayer leaders, and scripture readers are available with a key from the host on duty at the Host & Prayer Bunker tent behind the worshipers area, but you will need to bring your own food and drinks while ministering at the park. Water bottles, coffee, and snacks will be provided, but no red Kool-Aid or communion cups are aloud on the plaza as the slate plaza will stain if spilled on.
SET UP FOR WORSHIP TEAMS, PRAYER WARRIORS, AND SCRIPTURE READERS
We schedule all teams in 1 or 2 hour blocks and will go down to 1 hour sets if we have an abundance of applications. Worship is amplified with a full sound system from 8am until 10pm. We will be totally unplugged, except for the keyboard speaker, for the night-watch, from 10pm and 8am. We will provide a small speaker for the keyboard (to be kept at very low volume) as there are hotels right across the street. During the daytime hours, we will provide a keyboard with weighted keys, amplifiers for electric guitar and bass, but this time we will have a digital drum kit. We encourage percussionists and drummers to bring hand drums and percussion for the night shifts. We cannot switch out large instruments or equipment pieces, which is the only way we can move smoothly from one group to another, so please don't try to bring your own full drum set, keyboard or other sound items. We will also provide stools, 2 amps (1 guitar, 1 bass), chairs, music stands, and 4 microphones with boom stands. Please DO bring your own guitars, or other instruments.
This year's tent set up is going to be in the round, with no platform, as we are focusing around an 11 foot cross on a large round prayer rug that will be the altar area right in the center of the main tent. We strive for a seamless hand-off between all sets. If you are a worshiper or band, please have everything tuned and prepared as much as possible outside the tent, then begin setting up during the last ten minutes of the team prior to yours. Your sound check will be done live by the sound engineer on duty as your ministry time begins. Please be sensitive to the groups before and after you as you transition. Since you will be rotating with those who are praying and reading scripture, this should be no problem as just one instrument can be playing softly behind them. We just ask that the music continue at all times while prayer and scripture reading is going on. We are requesting all music revolve around the theme of praise, worship, repentance and seeking the Lord with humility and the fear of the Lord. Scriptures will be provided for scripture readers, but you may also bring your own Bible. (We suggest you rotate with this pattern: 1 worship song, up to 6 minutes, then 2-3 minutes of scriptures, 2-3 minutes of prayer, then back to 1 worship song up to 6 minutes, etc. to keep rotating so each leader can have at least 5 or 6 times to lead their part) This will be the pattern throughout the whole 3 days and nights.
LOAD-IN
Because of security requirements, any equipment you bring must enter the Plaza by hand-carrying. Security will not allow you to pull your car up to the tent for equipment drop-off, so you will need to carry it from the street vehicle drop off points on Charlotte Ave, 6th Ave, or Union St. There are ramps on Charlotte Ave and Union Street if you have a small cart. If you need help to carry something, please let us know. If you have a guitar, or other instrument, please bring and plug into the system provided. For volunteers interested in helping, here is set up and take down times:
Thursday, Sept 28th:
> The 1st set up crew will be from 9:30 AM to 12:00noon
> The 2nd set up crew will be from 12noon to 3 PM
Then Leaders' prayer is at 5 PM behind the "Prayer Bunker" and the Opening Ceremony will begin at 6:00 PM.
Saturday, Sept 30th:
Leaders' prayer is at 5 PM behind the "Prayer Bunker" and the Opening Ceremony will begin at 6:00 PM.
We will end by 6:45 PM and immediately take down. All items have labeled boxes or bins. The U-Haul will be at the curb across from the Sheraton by 7:00 PM and Terry and Matt will begin to load items as they are brought to the truck, beginning with the tent sand bags and other larger heavier items.
ARRIVAL
Please arrive at least 45 minutes to 1 hour before your scheduled time to worship, pray, read scripture or volunteer. You may even need this entire time buffer to negotiate traffic problems, parking or last-minute unforeseen issues. When you arrive, please go right to the Host/Prayer Bunker tent behind the worship area to get your event badge from the host on duty and to be prayed over. There will also be coffee and snacks, but it will mostly be where we pray over and for the "Worship, Prayer, and Scripture Stewards" before ministering in the main tent, as well as during their ministry hour. Our goal is to have the Prayer Bunker buzzing with prayer all the time, so please be sensitive and don't chit-chat inside any of the tents. We want all leaders to have time to center their heart on Jesus before their ministry time begins as well as being prayed for while they are ministering. All discussions should be taken outside the tents.
EQUIPMENT FOR WORSHIP TEAMS
As mentioned above, you are welcome to bring smaller instruments, guitars, djembe's, etc. We do encourage you to use our amps, etc., if possible for smoother transitions between sets. We will have 4 vocal mics for worship, a mic for the children's corner so they can pray and read scripture, as well as 1 mic each for the pray-er and scripture reader on boom stands. We will also have several instrument DI boxes, cables, music stands, monitor wedges, and a full sound system with a sound person on-hand during daytime hours. Extra equipment that does not go through the sound system is not allowed unless prior approval is given. Please do not turn the sound system back on during the night watch hours, 10pm to 8am, without prior approval. (Hotel managers and owners have complained in the past, and we understand they want their customers happy.)
BE FLEXIBLE
The Plaza Managers, Security, and Police have the authority to inspect your belongings at any time. You may be asked to open your cases as you enter the Plaza for safety reasons. We don't want this or even weather issues to deter our focus! So please be prepared to unplug and do an impromptu acoustic set with prayer and scripture off the Plaza perimeter as we never know what can happen during these non-stop tent events. Your scheduled time slot will remain the same, regardless of any disruptions. We also encourage everyone under the tents to engage by listening, worshiping along and agreeing with prayer leaders and scripture readers so they are affirmed. Talking and relational conversations should be limited to outside of the tents so that the holy and humble atmosphere under the tent is not disturbed. This is basic consideration and respect for the Lord, and for those who are ministering before the Lord.
(As a side note, other than needed wheelchairs or medical equipment, no wheeled scooters, bikes, skateboards, or recreational equipment are allowed by plaza management anywhere on the Legislative or War Memorial Plazas. Please respect their rules as we want to keep the favor we have been given with them.)
PARKING, HOUSING, & HOTELS
If you driving to Nashville each day you participate, there are metered parking spots on the streets for short visits, or parking lots close to the Plaza if you are staying more than 5 hours, which are noted on Google maps. The least expensive lot is at the Library one block away that has been $20/day in years past. The entrance to parking is on 7th Avenue. If you are coming from a distance, many hotels and AirBnB's can be booked, and are within walking distance of the Plaza. We recommend travel sites like Expedia.com or Booking.com to find the best rates and to see ratings and reviews. During the evenings or weekends, metered parking is free. And the Capitol's "State Employee Parking Lot 17A" is free on weekends and holidays. It can be accessed from Charlotte Ave. and 7th Ave just north of the Capitol building. If you are lodging east of Nashville there is a commuter train, the Music City Star... https://www.wegotransit.com/ride/transit-services/train/
PREPARE YOUR HEART
Finally, don’t forget that a heart that is connected to Jesus and clean of known sin is the most important piece of equipment in your gig bag. Before you come, please spend time individually and as a team centering your hearts on Jesus and asking the Holy Spirit to take you to deeper levels of intimacy with Him. We also encourage you to join our 10 Days of Fasting and Prayer, "Awaken Us Transformation," September 15-25, 2023. Ask to join our private fasting and prayer group page at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AwakenUsTransformation and be sure to turn on notifications for updates as we post important information there. We are also joining with
www.10Days.net at the same time, so stay tuned for information about opportunities to participate in our joint efforts with them as well.
Thanks for reading all that! If you wish to apply as a worship or prayer leader, scripture reader, evangelism team member, or volunteer, please fill out the form below:
