The Challenge of Orchestrating Global Worship This Side of Heaven

As the livestream of Gather25 began, five children stood at the edge of an auditorium stage as a guitar picked a simple introduction to “This Little Light of Mine.” A spotlight focused on a boy who sang the first verse in English, then panned as each took a turn singing a few lines in their own languages.

A 25-hour-long event broadcast last weekend from seven locations around the world, Gather25 is the latest effort to bring together the global church for worship across tribes and tongues.

“I think people are hungry for this,” organizer Jennie Allen said in a Fox News interview. “I believe in the diversity of the church. Each stream of the church is causing good in different ways. At the end of the event, we’re going to be singing ‘How Great Thou Art,’ and our hope is that for one moment, the whole world would sing one song to God.”