Washington for Jesus

In the United States in 1980 Christian leaders and members of the religious right rallied in Washington DC on April 29th and 30th, for an event called Washington for Jesus. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Dr. William Bright, Benson Idahosa from Africa, and many other high-profile Christians marched on Washington DC, in an effort to get Ronald Reagan, the opposing republican candidate to oust then democratic candidate Jimmy Carter out of office.

As part of the burgeoning religious right movement, Many of the early beliefs were outlined and solidified in speeches and statements made by leaders during the event. It was during this time that many national leaders became unified in their stance against homosexuality, abortion, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, the increase of divorce statistics, and the women's liberation movement.

The Religious Right

During the rally, Dr. William Bright- founder of Campus Crusade for Christ said-

"It's no mystery. We've turned from God and God is chastening us. Laugh if you will. The critics will laugh. And they'll make fun. But I'll tell you, this is God's doing. You go back to 1962 and 3 and you'll discover a series of plagues that came upon America. First, the assassination of President Kennedy. The war in Vietnam accelerated. The drug culture swept millions of young people into the drug scene. The youth revolution. Crime accelerated over 300 percent in a brief period of time. Racial conflict threatened to tear our nation apart. The Watergate scandal. The divorce rate accelerated. There were almost as many divorces as marriages. And there was an epidemic of teenage pregnancies, an epidemic of venereal disease, an epidemic of drug addiction, an epidemic of alcoholism. And now, we are faced with a great economic crisis.... God is saying to us, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!".

History

Washington for Jesus was founded by John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. John Giminez founded One Nation Under God, Inc. because he received prophecies that he should go to Washington to influence the future of the United States. Although Giminez was essentially Charismatic in his belief, he was able to unify the Christian community with the help of his friend Pat Robertson- also based in the Virginia Beach area.

Through the Years

Washington for Jesus rallies have been held in Washington DC in 1998, 1996, and 2004.

1980

1980 side notes: it was the media that said the quantity of people was below 500,000. It was the park police that said the quantity of people was in excess of 750,000. Also, the park police reported how the people were courteous and cleaned up after themselves- when just a week before Washington for Jesus gathered, some 20,000 people gathered for another rally. The park police reported that the other rally was one of the most unruly crowds and left one of the biggest littering messes for our tax paying dollars to clean up.

1988

During the 1988 rally, then president Ronald Reagan addresses the crowd via a video-taped address displayed to the crowd. During this address, he announced his plan to make the following Thursday- The National Day of Prayer.

1996

The 1996 youth portion of the event which was marketed as W4J '96 was chaired by Jeff Fenholt and featured prominent youth leaders who soon thereafter quickly emerged onto the national scene- Ron Luce, and Eastman Curtis. The event also featured music by Michael W. Smith, The Newsboys, Kirk Franklin and Kim Clement.