An Outcry for the Local Church

More than just a concert or a seasonal tour, the OUTCRY experience feels like a four-hour Spirit-packed conference that squeezes in tons of encouragement.

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OUTCRY may bring you your favorite Christian speakers and singers, but the tour’s management team refuses to call it a “movement.” Ryan Romeo, the co-founder of OUTCRY and author of the book by the same name, insists that “there is only one movement under the sun that will be around forever. And the church is not a collection of movements—it is the movement.”

More than just a concert or a seasonal tour, the OUTCRY experience feels like a four-hour Spirit-packed conference. Designed to hand the microphone to multiple bands, speakers, and ministries, OUTCRY has the potential to feel messy and overcrowded. You’ve got big lights, big names, and impressive repertoires. However, each transition strategically and smoothly packed in as much encouragement as possible.

“The heart of OUTCRY isn’t about being on this stage,” Romeo insisted during a worship intermission. “It’s about resetting the fire for the local church.”

Jeremiah Robinson, associate pastor and worship leader at Northside City Church in Charlotte, traveled to the Greenville concert on April 22, 2018. Robinson took part in the OUTCRY Collective where attendees receive early-bird seating, a copy of the OUTCRY book, a special Q&A session, and even worship workshops with the bands.

“Tonight is a big deal,” Robinson said. “But we need to take it back to our own churches. It’s a big deal for the local churches.”

OUTCRY’s fourth-annual summer tour in 2018 featured Elevation Worship, Bethel Music, Mosaic MSC, Vertical Worship, and A21 founder and speaker Christine Caine. The tour kicked off its opening night in Fresno, CA on April 7.

The bands collectively sang both new material and chart-topping hits, the kinds that have the entire stadium up on its feet with arms stretched wide. Their setlists were organized in almost a crescendo fashion, ensuring a blood-pumping, soul-celebrating finale.

Christine Caine matched the bands’ intensity as she spoke passionately about the chain of shame and the power of God’s true words. “The reason shame takes so many people out is because we were never expected to feel shame,” Caine said. “Build your life on the scripture you have in front of you.”

Other leaders took the stage to speak encouraging words and share information about the international humanitarian organization, World Vision. But Romeo promises that the heartbeat behind each message and speaker is centralized on Jesus’s bride: The Church.

“The best days of the church are ahead of us,” Romeo says in the OUTCRY book. “The moment we grasp the significance of our church—in the local, here-and-now sense—will be the moment we walk in power and freedom right where we are.”

For more information on OUTCRY the tour or the book, visit the website for more information.

 

 

Featured Image by Tabitha Mort

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

Rachael’s testimony can be summed up in four little words: from ash to glitter. She's witnessed Jesus transform her brokenness into extravagance and now she brings her ‘extra’ self to boardgames, lip-sync battles, and costume contests. Currently, she lives in South Carolina where she works as the Membership Engagement Coordinator for Kingdom Winds and devotes time to writing, teaching, and crafting dangly earrings.