Area Christians ready for Rock the Lake Erie

Sept. 21--Franklin Graham will deliver the kind of sermon in Erie his father used to give at Billy Graham Crusades.

"The Gospel message is the same whether you preach it 20 years ago, today or 100 years from now," the younger member of the famous faith family said.

But the format these days is a little more casual and a lot louder.

"If you don't like loud music, you better bring ear plugs," Franklin Graham warned.

He'll speak at the Rock the Lakes Erie festival, which will have a youth night Saturday at 6 p.m. and a family night Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena. TobyMac, Flame, Michael W. Smith and Red, which has ties to Linesville, are among the Christian musicians scheduled to perform. Admission is free on a first-come, first-seated basis for the event put on by local churches in cooperation with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Local pastors have said they asked the Graham Association to hold a festival here in the midst of poverty and violence to bring hope to people.

"They're going to walk away with a sense of hope they did not walk in with," said Barbara Baker, a member of East Lake Road Alliance Church.

Organizers are so confident they'll fill about 6,800 seats each night in Erie Insurance Arena that they've also rented the Warner Theatre for the overflow. About 2,200 people could watch a simulcast of the festival on a screen at the Warner, said Scott Bonnell, executive chairman for Rock the Lakes Erie.

Bonnell, a Glenwood United Methodist Church member and Bonnell's Collision Center owner, called the festival "a great cause to bring everybody together." He said businesses are participating as well as religious congregations.

Rock the Lakes isn't just a Protestant event, evangelical event or rich-church event. Bonnell said it is uniting people from many varying churches.

More than 250 throughout the area and into New York and Ohio have been involved in activities leading to the festival.

They began with a January kickoff that featured Will Graham, son of Franklin and grandson of Billy. Classes, prayer gatherings and community service projects followed.

The Rev. Mark McCallion'sWesleyville Baptist Church sent a dozen members to Christian life and witness classes and to clean up borough parks.

McCallion has been showing video clips at Sunday services from recent Graham festivals to pump up congregation members and prepare them for the difference between a crusade and Rock the Lakes. He said the audience won't be listening to choir music at the arena, where they'll instead find Christian rap, hip-hop and contemporary artists.

Rock the Lakes Erie audiences will be able to get in for free, thanks to churches and businesses that provided funding, Baker said. She and her husband, John, of Harborcreek Township, are financial co-chairs for Rock the Lakes Erie.

More than $70,000 was raised for the festival through Erie Gives, making Rock the Lakes the third highest recipient during the recent philanthropic blitz, Baker said.

No collection will be taken Saturday night at the festival, but people will be able to give on Sept. 28 if they want, she said.

Franklin Graham said the evangelistic association puts up a portion of the budget, and local churches raise the rest.

"It's really their gift to the community," he said.

Baker said any leftover money would stay in the Erie area.

She said organizers say they believe the event will bring families together and that young people will come in off the streets to attend.

McCallion has been encouraging members to ask family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to go. Wesleyville Baptist intends to invite the whole borough and mailed a flier to residents advertising the festival and offering rides in a church van, he said.

Franklin Graham especially wants to see young people there.

"They're searching," he said. "They don't know what they're searching for."

He said they think drugs or sex will provide fulfillment, but they don't.

"They don't find that happiness or peace they're looking for," he said.

Graham said that each night he will give people, young and old, the opportunity to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and have their sins forgiven.

"Every person that repents of their sin and believes on the name of Jesus Christ, their lives will be changed forever," he said.

The Christian church in Erie will be strengthened and people who were headed for hell will instead be in heaven, Graham said.

Bonnell believes the festival will reduce shootings and illegal drug use. "I just believe it's going to better our community," he said.

While months of preparation and prayer appear to culminate in the festival, Bonnell, Baker and McCallion said the work doesn't end when the last person leaves the arena.

Organizers want to keep the momentum going, and the Rock the Lakes Erie office will remain open through the end of the year.

Baker said there will be follow-up events like the weekly Discovery Group she'll host in her home for 12 weeks. She'll invite people in to study with a book from the Graham Association and get to know one another.

Churches could see "new believers" coming through their doors after the festival, and Bonnell said some of the advance work was to help prepare congregations to work with and mentor those people.

McCallion said festivalgoers will have the opportunity to submit their contact information, which will be forwarded to local churches by the Monday morning after the festival.

"Our task will be to make a touch with you in the next 24 hours," he said.

That doesn't mean showing up at the front door unannounced, he said, but does involve reaching out to people.

"The easy part is going to be the 27th, 28th," McCallion said. "After that, for the churches, our work will begin."

DANA MASSING can be reached at 870-1729 or by e-mail. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNmassing.

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