New Photos: The Call, 2008

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 Christians gathered on the Washington DC mall this past Saturday. Their purpose was fasting and prayer for various social, economical and spiritual issues affecting our nation. The gathering is known as the Call, and it happens a few times a year all over the country.

I was invited by a friend attending the event to join him, so I decided to cover the day with my camera on an unofficial level.

The event began at 10am and ended at 10pm. Prior to the event the Call’s leadership team requested that the participants consider fasting for the duration of the event. Many participated in that manner. However, in a crowd that size, there were still plenty of Starbucks cups and McDonalds wrappers to be sighted.

Among the major social issues discussed and prayed for during the Call was abortion. An organization known as The Cause was  a major presence on the mall. Their known most for their silent prayerful opposition to abortion, all over the world. You might recognize them. They’re the folks with the bright red tape across their mouth that reads “LIFE” in big bold letters. The “LIFE” stickers were nearly everywhere you looked and on nearly everything. People, clothes, chairs, umbrellas, trees, water bottles, children, babies. It was clearly a dominant theme.

In addition to the Cause, various charismatic groups helped to spearhead the movement. IHOP (International House of Prayer) in Kansas City and Morning Star Ministries were among the most notable presence. However, the Call’s official statements made clear it was unimportant who in particular was present.

Just outside of the mall, on a street corner, a group of zealous Christians took up opposition to the Call. A group of four men, one at a time, stood on a platform on the street corner shouting into a bullhorn. Their message was largely convoluted. Furthermore, it seemed more in line with the Call’s message than they knew. Had they stopped shouting into the megaphone, they might have noticed. But of course they didn’t and their abrasive attitudes sparked anger in the folks passing by. Ironically, many of whom were there attending the Call.

Aside, of course, from the disruption of a few divisive Christians, there was a surprising level of unity among various Christian denominations. Dozens or more denominations were represented in the crowd and it seemed that the majority were participating.

In this gallery, there are no photographs of the speakers or worship leaders. The reasons are twofold. First, the emphasis among the leadership of the Call was the prayer and participation of the attendants. They did not want their presence to be a hindrance or to attract too much focus. This lends to my second reason, the crowd toward the front and sides of the stage was very densely packed. While I could have worked my way close enough for some quality photographs, I opted not to. Therefore I purposefully spent my time and attention seeking photographs that most clearly captured the crowd.

I shot the majority of this event handheld, on a Canon 16-35mm 2.8L lens. I spent a short period using a 70-200mm 2.8L mounted on a monopod, but found it often limited my mobility among dense crowds.

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