On Friday, April 14, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Take the City will host its annual Revival on the River at the Phenix City Amphitheater. The event is free, and the first 3,000 people will get a free Chick-fil-a sandwich.
“Revival on the River is a community-based event. The first time we did it was in 2014,” said Operations Director, Mike Marshall.
“This is our seventh one. It’s a community-based event. The premise of it is for unity for the local church. We rented out the amphitheater and created a space for people in Columbus and Phenix City to worship, to meet with one another, and to cross pollinate,” said Marshall. “When you are in the four walls of your own church, you may not even know the people that are three doors down from you. We’re creating a space for people to get to know one another and to be unified.”
A lot of times it can be a competition and comparison amongst churches, he said.
“Our job, our goal, with Revival on the River is to create a space where that can kind of be silenced, and believers can come to be with one another. Because we believe that as believers, we are meant to be unified with one another, one church, even though we might have different views on certain things. We still gather around Jesus.”
Not only will Revival on the River have free Chick-fil-a for the first 3,000 people, but they will also have wide variety of music performances, ranging from contemporary Christian music to hymns.
“I will be headlining the worship for it. That will be towards the end of the night. But then we also have a local church that’s going to be doing some worship, and we also have an artist named Wendi Wyatt that’s going to be doing worship and doing a choir. She’ll have like a gospel choir with her,” said Marshall.
They will also have a kid zone area for children from ages 5 to 12.
“With the kid zone, we want to create a space where parents can come and enjoy the event and don’t have to feel like they have to baby sit or not really get to be a part of what’s happening. We have volunteers that are going to be putting together an area for kids to come, and there will be different activities for them. Parents will be able to enjoy the worship, the message, and all the things that are happening during the event,” said Marshall.
“They will be able to donate at the event. There’s going to be a time where we allow them, if they become one of our monthly partners, to receive a special gift as well,” said Marshall. “Take the City is a nonprofit, so we are completely funded by the community and by donors and sponsors. We have monthly partners, that partner with us on at $25 a month, some at very large amounts a month, and annual gifts. We exist based off of people’s generosity.”
If you decide to become a monthly partner, they will give you a gift, which will be a Revival on the River T-shirt.
“For the community as a whole, we personally just want to see people come to know who Jesus is. Everything we do is very gospel centered. When I say gospel centered, I just mean, focused around who Jesus is, what he came to do on the Earth and for people. When we are spreading and hoping that when people leave, they leave with an impression on their hearts of who Jesus is, what he has done for humanity, the love of God, we are hoping just for life transformation,” he said.
“We believe that the gospel is the most powerful thing on the face of the planet. When we go into this event, we’re going in with the hope that when people leave, that seeds are planted, that life transformation could happen that night for people who might come that may have a substance abuse problem, or they might have trauma that they’re dealing with in their life, or they have a hardship that they’re going through that we believe that as we bring people around, then Jesus, in the name of Jesus, that things could happen in that atmosphere that will change your life forever. That’s our ultimate hope for this event.”
When asked if there is anything else he would like to add about the event, Marshall explained that people should attend because they never know what the night might hold for them.
“People should go, you know? You never know what your personal outcome will be coming to an event like this. And so, it’s like, you might think, ‘Ah, I don’t want to go to that’, but you just never know what is possible in an atmosphere like that,” said Marshall. “So, I think everybody should come. Oh, this is not exclusive to Christians,” he added. “Yes, it’s for unity amongst the church. But we also want to raise a resounding sound in the Chattahoochee Valley for people that are non-believers, you know?”
“We believe that the gospel is the most awesome thing. We’re not going to shove it down your throat. We’re just here to present it to you. And maybe just maybe, it would be something that you say, ‘Wow, that actually seems like something that I need’. It’s an invite to everyone in the valley.”
If you would like to learn more about, Take the City, and any other events they will be hosting, you can visit their website at takethecity.com.