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SAN DIEGO, Calif. — There they were—men of the cloth shedding their denominational robes, while weeping on their knees. Boldly perched before the thousands of people they shepherd each week, the pastors, gripped by raw transparency, sought forgiveness, vowed repentance and begged for revival.
And, under the guidance of Lou Engle, an international prayer and fasting leader, they extended the call to the Qualcomm Stadium crowd, many of whom were on the 39th day of a 40-day fast.
“We come rending our hearts and garments,” Engle said. “We come as one body, the body of Christ, one voice crying out for mercy, God.”
The Call, a 12-hour fasting and prayer event, was held Nov. 1. An official count was not available because people were free to come and go throughout the day, but a senior staff member said actual attendance was between 20,000 and 30,000, with some coming from outside the state. They made the pilgrimage three days in advance of the General Election when Californians were to decide whether to protect traditional marriage by amending the state Constitution through Proposition 8.
Among the out-of-state visitors was Dr. James Dobson and his wife, Shirley, who traveled from their Colorado Springs home to thank the pastors and lay people for their work on Proposition 8.
“What a beautiful sight this is,” Dobson told the crowd, many burned from hours of exposure under a bright sun.
Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, has invested heavily in the campaign by promoting it on his national radio program and through contributions totaling more than $335,000.
“Who would have thought that, on our watch, in our day, the institution of marriage would be on the ropes,” Dobson said. “But it is and if it goes, a whole lot of things will go with it.”
He told the crowd that the issue is so important he canceled a previous commitment to make the trip to San Diego.
“I am so proud to be a part of this,” Dobson said. “I did feel the Lord’s hand on my back telling me to (come).”
Although entertainer Pat Boone was also on hand to lend his voice to the prayer event, most of those speaking and leading prayers were ordinary people who shared extraordinary stories of how faith and prayer healed their lives.
Ground zero
The Call team—which is generally led by young adults who have hosted 14 such gatherings across the United States and abroad—was invited to San Diego by a group of pastors who have been working to promote Proposition 8. Although the invitation was made as an election precursor, much of the day’s focus was directed inward as pastors led the crowd in prayers for purity, the restoration of broken marriages, and healing from such addictions as drugs, pornography and unhealthy entertainment. Just one of the five prayer segments focused on Proposition 8.
San Diego seemed a fitting location for the event since the state’s most Southern county became ground zero for the Proposition 8 movement last year. It was launched after San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders broke a campaign promise to oppose same-sex marriage.
Throughout the day, the San Diego city flag flapped in the wind above the stadium as Christians prayed for the redemption of their communities. That evening, Sanders appeared at a No on 8 prayer vigil with his daughter Lisa, a lesbian. That gathering drew an estimated 3,000 people.
A call to prayer
The day began with the blowing of the shofar, a biblically significant Old Testament custom for announcing a major event such as an impending battle. In the background a worship team sang “Lord Have Mercy” as young people, prostrate on the stage, offered prayers.
“You are America’s only hope, release mercy,” one woman prayed between sobs.
One young man addressed the church’s apathy when challenging an increasingly immoral society.
“Forgive us for falling for the lies,” he prayed.
As part of the event’s consecration, Shawn Mitchell, pastor of New Venture Church in Oceanside, encouraged the crowd to put the event in its proper perspective.
“We are not here for LaDainian Tomlinson,” said Mitchell, who also serves as chaplain for the San Diego Chargers. “We are not here for the Chargers. We are here to draw the attention of a Holy God.”
Engle, who appeared on the stage throughout the event offering prayers and spiritual insight, shared his heart for California, saying that Christians in the state “stand on a battlefield more significant than Iraq.”
“Crisis brings us together,” Engle said.
Even as Engle encouraged the crowd to pray and fast to touch the heart of heaven, a stadium billboard to the right of stage promoted 7-Eleven and its slogan “Oh, Thank Heaven.”
“You will be exhausted, but you didn’t waste your day watching TV, you didn’t waste your day with entertainment. But you can say, “I touched the heart of heaven,” said Engle.
A bigger agenda
Samuel Rodriquez, in a brief, but fiery, presentation to the crowd, touched on politics in a broad manner that did not specifically mention Proposition 8.
“There is a bigger agenda than a political agenda, it is the agenda of the kingdom of God,” Rodriguez said from the stage. “It is the agenda of hope, the agenda of freedom and the agenda of security.”
He also spoke about hope, saying it was not a political sound bite or a political party.
“Hope,” he said, “is a person. Christ. The hope of glory.”
Jim Garlow, senior pastor at Skyline Church and a leader with the local Pastor’s Rapid Response Teach heading up the Proposition 8 campaign, led a prayer of apology to Roman Catholics.
“We ask you for forgiveness for the way we have responded to you,” Garlow said, his voice cracking with emotion.
“Let us see through the lens of the Father. May we not drag our sins into the stadium this day. There is too much at stake.”
In addition to the crowds inside the stadium, the event was also broadcast on God TV, with more than one million people around the world praying in concert with those in the stadium. At 3 p.m., 1.5 million Catholics worldwide prayed simultaneously for the sanctity of marriage.
Earlier in the day, several hundred people boasting Yes on 8 signs marched to the stadium from Mission San Diego de Alcala—several blocks to the east of the stadium—where they had a Mass before heading to The Call.
Outside the stadium, a group of about 100 motorcycle riders ushered in the event by circling the stadium as others blew shofars and prayed for the sanctity of marriage.
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