It couldn’t have been a better day for Praise in the Park II which took place in Victoria Park, Saturday September 12. Bright sun, little wind and a temperature that spent most of the day in the high 20s reaching plus 31 at one point attracted about 2,000 people over the course of the day and evening to listen to eight highly energized praise bands from various Regina Christian churches.
“We are here to demonstrate our faith together,” said Sonlight Christian Reformed Church Pastor Charles Kooger in his opening remarks. “Before Christ died on the Cross he prayed that we all might be one.” Kooger also noted that it was also Honoring the Military Day and expressed thanks for the military keeping Canada safe. Military units were gathering on the other side of the Park preparing for their march to City Hall where they received the Freedom of the City. (see story elsewhere)
Most of the bands came from evangelical churches with the exception of Vision, a band whose members are from several Roman Catholic Churches. Regina Archdiocesan Vicar General Very Reverend Lorne Crozon introduced Visions pointing out its members were representative of the Archdiocese. Pastors or other church representatives introduced the other bands.
The feature act of the evening was a performance by Phil Wickham, an award winning Christian song writer and singer based in San Diego. He played guitar, performed several songs from his albums and had the young people crowded around the stage singing with him.
The crow was a good mix of older and younger people many came as families. “Looking for a good vibe,” said one of the groups and another individual said he was “just looking for a good afternoon enjoying the music.”
The Salvation Army provided free hot dogs; a couple of food service trucks from the adjacent Farmers’ Market kept their trucks open and provided a variety of foods for purchase. The First Baptist Church across the street opened its doors for anyone who wished to have some quiet time and several Christian service organizations established booths along side of the open area providing information about their services and a couple of booths provided space for prayer or contemplation.
Praise in the Park is endorsed by the Regina Council of Churches and the Regina Evangelical Ministerial Association. It is part of Love Week Regina.
The event is free but to help cover costs a donation table was set up. There were several large sponsors and Kooger said they along with donations managed to raise sufficient funds to cover all costs.
