The invitation was simple.

Come to the Table.

View Comments (0)

To the Lord’s Banqueting Table.

To Communion America.

Gather with people from around the nation to celebrate Jesus by worshipping, praying, feasting, and partaking in holy communion.

Let the IFA community know how to pray for you.

Meet at America’s capital on the National Mall in mid-October.

About 7,000 could fit at the communion tables that extended for more than a mile from the U.S. Capitol toward the Washington Monument. They were adorned with white tablecloths and strewn with symbols of Christ: Crowns of thorns and also of jewels, goblets, and palm branches.

The tables overflowed. There were about 10,000 people in attendance, so many Gen-Z believers spread out on the lawn.

My husband, Rich, also a contributing writer for IFA, and I took up the invitation, joining the four-day festival on Saturday, its penultimate day.

We worshipped with music and the word, as speakers such as Dutch Sheets and Lou Engle took the stage to share the vision of what they referred to as a communion revival.

Only One Celebrity

According to key organizer David Bradshaw of Awaken the Dawn, this gathering was not around celebrity personalities but focused on Jesus and His movement among the people He loves.

In his video The Story, Mr. Bradshaw retells the story of a tent gathering on the Mall in 2017. Last year, he felt the Holy Spirit reminding him about that gathering, and so Mr. Bradshaw reached out to Jason Hershey, founder of the continuous worship venue David’s Tent.

In a prayer meeting, Mr. Hershey had seen in his mind’s eye a long table stretching across the Mall. Two other intercessors also saw in their prayers this long table.

When Mr. Bradshaw heard this, he knew the Lord was calling for this event. Another stunning confirmation came when he learned of another friend’s son who was completely healed of cancer; the healing happened after his father spent a season taking communion with the Lord daily.

The event’s tagline says it all: It is only the Blood of Jesus and the Presence of Jesus that shifts a generation.

A Communion Revival

Last October on the Day of Atonement, Rich and I joined hundreds of thousands to repent for national sins and pray God would raise up Esthers and Mordecais.

Since then, revival, sparked by the Asbury Outpouring in 2023, has continued to roll along, especially among college-aged people. Millions have heard the gospel because of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

This weekend’s gathering was during the biblical Feast of Tabernacles, also called Sukkot, when the Lord’s people celebrate His presence, provision, and protection.

The Lord’s Presence is critical to His work in this season. Mr. Bradshaw reached out to Mr. Engle, who confirmed the communion gathering. Mr. Engle shares on The Story video what the Holy Spirit had impressed upon him:

There is coming a revival of the sacrament. And when the Blood is honored, there is coming the greatest harvest — a river of the Blood of Jesus leading to evangelism, souls, and the great harvest. It’s the Blood revival. The communion revival.

Weather Wonder

The weather looked iffy. A big East Coast storm was in the offing. I wore rain boots, anticipating typical wet October weather.

But the Lord — in answer to prayers — parted the clouds and gave a beautiful day with sunshine and — blessedly — no precipitation during the time at the table.

By the next day, the event reportedly moved off the main stage and into the training tent for its final sessions because of the threatening rain.

But at the table last Saturday, God made space in His sky for the fellowship of communion with Him, His Son, and His Spirit.

Speakers commented on this weather marvel, and one person shared that the Lord had done a similar miracle at a communion table he had organized in a racially troubled community. During a downpour, he asked the Lord for one clear hour to hold the communion service, and that’s exactly what he received.

It’s right to rejoice in this type of miracle, but not surprising from the God who so desires to be with His People that He sent His Son to die on the cross to accomplish this very communion.

Repentance

On Saturday, before we went to the tables, Mr. Engle cautioned us to examine ourselves so as not to fall ill by taking communion unworthily.

We were offered an opportunity to repent of many sins, including harsh criticism of other believers and failing to forgive those who have harmed us.

At the tables, we had met and prayed for other believers. One man we prayed for was healed immediately of long-standing pain in his shoulder. This gave us faith to believe in the inner healing of a man who had abused his body with various substances.

As we all took the bread and the juice, the sun was beginning to set and the shadows grew long. It was a holy moment in a holy space.

It was a time of reflection, celebration, and intimacy.

It was communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Tents

Tents are a key element of Awaken the Dawn’s ministry outreach, and there was no shortage of them at this festival.

After communion, Rich and I strolled by the many tents: 50 state, Puerto Rican, Israel tent, First Nations, Gen Z, and the permanently installed David’s Tent.

By this time in the festival, some were packing up their state tents, but others were still lively with prayer, worship, and conversation.

The folks in David’s Tent continued to sing their continuous love song to Jesus.

It was a fitting coda to our experience of Communion America.

Rich took a time-lapse of the tables and tents:

Awaken the Dawn also created a video recap of the event that you can watch below:

Lord, please call Your people to fellowship with You in communion throughout the world. Lead us to honor the Blood that You might revive Your church, reap a harvest of souls, and fill the heavenly banqueting table in Jesus’ Name.

Share your prayer for revival below.

New York City–based Joyce Swingle is an intercessor and a contributing writer for IFA. With her husband, Rich, who is also a contributing writer for IFA, Joyce shares the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world through theater, speaking, writing, and film. Prior to going into full-time ministry, Joyce worked for close to 20 major magazines and now works in pastoral ministry and Christian counseling. www.RichDrama.com. Photo Credit: Communion America on Facebook.