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Movement Day Bridgeport Unites City Leaders for Transformational Change

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“A Moment in Time.”

That was the theme for the inaugural Movement Day Bridgeport on June 14, 2025, at Cathedral of Faith Church where leaders from every sector—government, faith-based nonprofits, clergy, and young adults—united around a shared vision for the city’s future.

This “moment in time” in Bridgeport, Connecticut was not missed, according to Rev. Gabrielle Beam, the director of Movement Day Bridgeport (MDB) and pastor of The Rivers Anglican Church.

“God is pouring out His Spirit on Bridgeport to unify the church in a deeper way so that we can get more work done and He can be glorified in the city. It’s undeniable,” she said.

Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim challenged the church community not only to pray for the city but to dream big and act boldly in pursuit of lasting change.

“What is your dream for this city?” he asked.

MDB highlighted four core pillars: marketplace and workforce development, emerging leadership, education reform, and gospel proclamation. These themes were not only discussed but activated, as faith-based organizations like Elevate, Rise to Read, Faith Acts, and Raising Highly Capable Kids united in their mission to address Bridgeport’s education crisis from preschool to high school.

Another highlight of MDB was the passion of Next Gen leaders who were willing to “take on the weight of the problems of affordable housing, homelessness, and education of the next generation,” Pastor Gabrielle said.

MDB also sparked groundbreaking partnerships. For the first time, Catholic leaders joined what had largely been a Protestant-led initiative. Likewise, the historically siloed Black, White, and Hispanic clergy associations were visibly unified. Leaders stood on stage and called for forgiveness, healing, and shared purpose. The symbolic act of reconciliation culminated in spontaneous embraces among pastors and congregants—an emotional display of what it means to be the Church in one heart and one voice.

Connecticut State Senator Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox and Representative Christopher Rosario lent political weight to the day’s themes, with a focus on paid apprenticeships, workforce development, and legislative solutions.

Panel discussion at Movement Day Bridgeport

 

Overall, MDB was marked by a spirit of unity, collaboration, transformation and purpose.

Post-event feedback was extremely positive. One pastor sent a text to the organizers of MDB, quoting Psalm 27:13, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

“We must continue the course of unity through the Spirit,” he wrote. “For 30 years, I had hoped to see the body of Christ come together as one in our region.”

In the last decade, a group of 30 to 40 Bridgeport pastors have worked toward transformation in their city through various initiatives and outreaches. MDB not only solidified that foundation but also cast a renewed vision for an even greater impact.

“We are now seeing the beginning of a harvest and a much deeper work,” Pastor Gabrielle said.

THE FIRST MOVEMENT DAY was hosted in New York City in 2010 through the partnership of Dr. Mac Pier and Movement.org and Dr. Tim Keller and Redeemer City to City. Leaders from the church, non-profit, and marketplace communities gathered to celebrate what had been accomplished, examine areas that still needed work, and find tangible ways to collaborate for continued flourishing. In the last 15 years, Movement Day expressions have been hosted in 900 cities across the globe. Find out more at www.movement.org/.

Accelerating A Global Gospel Movement at the 1,000 Cities Summit

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Unite. Equip. Transform. Multiply.

That was the theme when MOVEMENT.ORG hosted its 1,000 Cities Summit at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, on May 16-17, 2025.

The annual Summit gathers leaders from the marketplace, the church, and parachurch arenas to collaborate around MOVEMENT.ORG’s vision to accelerate the gospel in 1,000 global cities. These urban centers have urgent social and spiritual needs—and Gospel movements are the key to lasting, transformational change.

Currently, MOVEMENT.ORG is impacting leaders in 300 cities on five continents.

MOVEMENT.ORG is UNITING the church to pray. It is EQUIPPING local leaders who know their cities best – enabling them to launch gospel movements that are TRANSFORMING communities through collaborative action. These same leaders are MULTIPLYING this vision across hundreds of cities globally.

At the 1,000 Cities Summit, Mac Pier, founder of MOVEMENT.ORG, recalled how that formula helped the Evangelical Church grow by 750% in New York City from 1989 to 2019. Since the inaugural Movement Day in New York in 2010, the Scholars Program and Movement Day events have been multiplied in hundreds of cities in the United States and globally.

“We have seen this tremendous growth in Manhattan and now see it happening around the world,” he said. “We are hopeful that, by the end of 2027, we will be active in 300 additional cities, bringing the total to 600. We are on a trajectory to fulfill our 1,000 Cities Vision by the year 2033.”

The Summit featured keynote messages from Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby and Board Chair of the Museum of the Bible; Dr. Terry Smith, senior pastor of The Life Church, West Orange, New Jersey; and Dr. John Jenkins, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Another highlight of the Summit was reports from MOVEMENT.ORG’s regional leaders in Africa, South Asia, Brazil, and the Middle East, and an update on new regions in Central Asia, the Balkans, and Southeast Asia.

“We believe that we can multiply this vision in 1,000 cities over the next several years,” Mac Pier said. “This is not an arbitrary number. There are 4,000 cities around the world that have a population of more than 100,000. God cares for every person in every city.”

“I believe that if we have collective agreement and commitment to the future together, we can see God do some things that we believe will be world historic.”

TOGETHER WE CAN TRANSFORM CITIES: With your partnership, MOVEMENT.ORG is equipping leaders, uniting churches, and sparking Gospel Movements across the globe. Click here to give.

 

Building Bridges at the 35th Annual Pastors Prayer Summit

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The theme of MOVEMENT.ORG’s 35th Annual Pastors Prayer Summit was “Rise and Build,” based on the reconstruction of the Wall of Jerusalem chronicled in the book of Nehemiah.

On January 27-29 at Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center in Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania, over 300 pastors and Christian leaders from Metro New York City united in worship, prayer, teaching, and fellowship.

“We are building bridges across racial, economic, social, and generational divides—the Pastors Prayer Summit embodies this,” said Mac Pier, founder of Movement.org. “The heart of Christianity is the incarnation, God among us. When we are among each another, God shows up and does very powerful things.”

PAIN AND PRAYER

In his opening message, Mac Pier shared about “The Leader’s Pain.”

“The story of Nehemiah begins with an extraordinary amount of pain,” he said.

“Our pain reminds us of our dependence on God and our absolute interdependence on one another. We experience pain in our communities and in our region. God uses our pain and our prayer to change the world.”

Like Nehemiah, a leader’s pain must drive them to prayer.

At the 35th Annual PPS, Mac recalled how the pain and brokenness of New York City (an average of eight murders a day between 1987 and 1994) helped birth a mighty prayer movement, with 2,000 churches participating in various expressions of intercession over the years. The collective impact of spiritual and social flourishing, including church growth and reduced crime, led to the convening of the first Movement Day in Manhattan in 2010.

Movement Day, birthed by the joint efforts of Movement.org (formerly The NYC Leadership Center) and Tim Keller and Redeemer City to City, gathered Christians to celebrate what had been accomplished and examine areas that still needed work.

Over the next 15 years, this blueprint for transformation in New York was exported globally.

“New York has inspired 900 cities around the world to participate in our Movement Day expressions,” Mac said.

At PPS, he challenged attendees to think globally, revealing the organization’s 1,000 Cities Vision, which seeks to train 5,000 Movement Day Scholars over the next decade, especially in unreached cities of Asia. He likened New York City to Antioch, a key hub city in the book of Acts.

“The faith community in New York is uniquely positioned to impact 1,000 cities because, collectively, we are an Antioch for the globe. God has positioned us to make an enormous difference. Pain brings us to a place of possibility.”

KEYNOTE MESSAGES

Following Mac Pier’s message on “The Leader’s Pain,” challenging, and powerful keynote addresses (links to videos in titles) were presented by Pastor Charles Galbreath (“The Leader’s Burden”), Pastor Fred Provencher (“The Leader’s Confession”), Pastor Marc Rivera (“The Leader’s Diligence”), Pastor Terry A, Smith (“The Leader’s Shalom”), Pastor Gabrielle Beam (“The Leader’s Strategy”), Pastor A.R. Bernard (“The Leader’s Vision”), and Mullery Jean-Pierre “The Leader’s Posture”).

General sessions also featured worship with Monique Sade, small group prayer times, and Lectio Divina reflections led by Marya Pier, wife of Mac Pier and a Bible Study Fellowship Leader in Queens.

REGIONAL PRAYER ROOMS

One of the annual highlights of PPS are the Tuesday afternoon breakout sessions where attendees meet in regional prayer rooms for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, and National. Other Tuesday breakouts included seminars by Faithly (“Building A Christian Social Media Ecosystem”), Hope Day, the Shalom Devotional Series, A Christian Apologetics Workshop with Dan Buttafuoco (“Inoculate 
Your Youth With The Truth”), Haiti One by One, and Dr. Ron Walborn of Asbury Theological Seminary (“Spiritual Gifts: Tools For Building The Kingdom, not toys for Entertaining The Church).

At the 2025 PPS, Movement.org gave out Lifetime of Spiritual Achievement Awards to honorees Art and Norma Gean Davenport, First Church Of God, Far Rockaway, NY; Pura Coniglio, Pastor, Love Gospel Church Without Walls, Bronx, NY; Tom and Vicky Mahairas, co-founders of Citivision, Manhattan Bible Church, Transformation Life Center and other ministries; Glen and Carole Kleinknecht, Cru Inner City, Pastor Tim Chicola, Pastor Emeritus of The Crossings Church, Livingston, NJ.

“God is calling us to arise and build broken people and repair broken altars,” said Pura Coniglio. “God has called us to be bridge builders and restorers of the breach.”

BRIDGING GENERATIONS

One of the bridges built at the 2025 PPS helped strengthened the link between generations. Many young leaders attended, including a large contingent from Movement.org’s Advanced Leadership Institute.

Pastor Davenport, a former Concerts of Prayer board member, addressed the young leaders, encouraging them to regularly attend PPS.

“There are many first timers that have come to this assembly today. And we can testify that this is the place to be,” he said.

“We are grateful that, throughout my entire ministry, this organization—this group of people, God’s people—have instilled in us the value of prayer, the value of praying together…so that God can move in spite of the challenges we face.”

PPS sponsors included: Historical Bible Society, Daniel Buttafuoco and Associates, Asbury Theological Seminary, Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center, Hope Day, Haiti One by One, Faithly, Christian Cultural Center, Heritage Pastors Assoc. (Jesus Is Lord Parade), and Metro District of the Christian Missionary Alliance. 

PASTORS PRAYER SUMMIT PHOTO GALLERY (click on photo to enlarge):

 

Let’s Do Something World Historic: How to Help Transform Cities Like Nairobi

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On Giving Tuesday and through the end of the year, you have an opportunity to make a difference in cities around the world by supporting Movement Day Scholars like Esther in Nairobi, Kenya.

Esther Chengo is passionate about fostering gospel movements and the flourishing of African cities. A resident of Nairobi, this Christian leader is grateful for the training provided by the Movement Day Scholars Program, which has equipped her to be a catalyst for evangelism, discipleship, and addressing urgent social issues in her city.

“The Movement Day Scholars Program offered an excellent resource for me to discover more about God’s vision for my life and my city. I now have clarity on how to start and nurture Christian Gospel Movements that lead to the transformation of the city.” – Esther Chengo

The Movement Day Scholars Program is an intensive, three-year training module. Graduates create a faith stretching 10-year plan to collectively see God transform a city.

“Our goal is to train and catalyze leaders in the greatest cities and bring the gospel to these urban areas,” said Mac Pier, Founder of Movement.org. For the last five years, the Movement Day Scholars Program has impacted over one thousand leaders in South Asia, Africa, South America, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Our vision is to train 5,000 leaders by 2033 to accelerate the gospel worldwide.

Your gift – both large and small – will help make this vision a reality.

“Together, we have an opportunity to do something world historic. God will use your generosity to contribute to a new arc in the growth of Christianity globally.” – Mac Pier

Please click here to donate.

 

Join Movement.org at the 35th Annual Pastors Prayer Summit

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On January 27-29, Movement.org will host the 35th Annual Pastors Prayer Summit at Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center in Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania. For pastors and ministry leaders from the Metro New York region, spending 48 hours together engaged in worship, prayer, fellowship, and teaching is transformative.

“Thinking back over the last 35 years, I’ve been struck by the fact that the things that we pray for at the Pastors Prayer Summit have changed the world,” said Dr. Mac Pier, the founder of Movement.org. “In these days together, we do four things: We pray. We worship. We take communion. And we build friendships. God uses those four elements to change the world.”

The theme for the 2025 Pastors Prayer Summit is “Rise Up & Build,” based on Nehemiah 2:18. Speakers include Mac Pier (host); Dr. A.R. Bernard, Founder & CEO, Christian Cultural Center, Brooklyn; Charles Galbreath, Senior Pastor, Alliance Tabernacle, Brooklyn; Fred Provencher, Senior Pastor, Cornerstone Church, Wyckoff, NJ; Terry A. Smith, Senior Pastor, Life Christian Church, West Orange, NJ; Gabrielle Beam, Pastor, Mary Of Bethany Church, Bridgeport, CT; Marc Rivera, Senior Pastor, Primitive Church, New York; and Vandalyn Kennedy, Chairlady, Int’l Youth Department, COGIC.

Honorees include Art Davenport, Senior Pastor, First Church Of God, Far Rockaway, NY; Pura Coniglio, Pastor, Love Gospel Church Without Walls, Bronx, NY; Tom Mahairas, founder Of Citivision, Manhattan Bible Church, Transformation Life Center, and other ministries.

Register today as space is limited. Registration Deadline: January 20, 2025

Click Here for More Info or to Register

 

SG500 Asian City Forum Held in Singapore

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MOVEMENT.ORG hosted the SG500 Asian City Forum in Singapore on September 18-20. A multigenerational gathering of 260 global business and faith leaders prayerfully gathered around the topic of how to reach 500 cities and the 2 Billion Gen Z and Gen Alpha young people in Asia in the next decade. One of the key outcomes was a goal to train 900 leaders in 180 cities over the next five years in the Movement Day Scholars Program.

“Asia has almost 5 billion people, but only between 8 and 9 percent are Christians,” said Mac Pier, Founder of MOVEMENT.ORG. “If an additional 2 percent of the population in Asia came to faith in Christ in the next decade, it would represent 100 million new believers.”