2nd Annual Movement Day Greater Dallas Stretches Limits

DALLAS - Jan. 29, 2015 - PRLog -- On January 22^nd, 2015, the second annual Movement Day Greater Dallas (http://www.movementdaygreaterdallas.com/)(MDGD) was held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, attracting 2000 leaders and recording the highest attendance of any Movement Day (http://www.movementday.com/) gathering to date.

Currently including New York City and Dallas, the vision behind the day is to unite every sector of a city’s Christian community to collectively bring the Gospel to bear on pressing social issues such as education, hunger, human trafficking, and more. In so doing, these challenges are addressed with greater effectiveness and sustainability, ultimately resulting in city transformation.

The main emphasis of this year’s gathering was unity through the beauty and strength of diversity and was met with an eagerness to see the gospel movement expand its influence in the cities of Greater Dallas. Attendees represented a wide demographic and included collaborating leaders from business, non-profit, faith-based, and local government sectors throughout the region.

Jon Edmonds, executive director of Movement Day Greater Dallas, welcomed the audience by saying, “This day is an opportunity to join hands to bring down racial divides, to address poverty, to love the poor, to serve our fellow citizens and transform our cities . . . This is the season of harvest.”

Other key speakers for the day included Dr. Jim Denison, founder of Denison Forum on Truth and Culture (http://www.denisonforum.org/), Chip Ingram, CEO and teaching pastor of Living on the Edge (http://www.livingontheedge.org), Matt Chandler, teaching pastor of The Village, Dr. Jeff Warren, senior pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church (http://www.pcbc.org), Pastor Bryan Carter of Concord Church (http://www.concorddallas.org), , Dr. Mac Pier, founder of Movement Day and The New York City Leadership Center (http://www.nycleadership.com/) and Dr. K. Shelette Stewart, associate director of business development for executive education for Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business.

In expressing the hope of the movement and the city, Dr. Denison commented, “The only solution for the future must be collaborative. Through the collaborative passion of the body of Christ, we can meet social needs, which will earn us the opportunity to respond to spiritual needs. Movement Day isn’t just a conference; it is about personal spiritual awakening. This is about me loving Jesus more, and about being more engaged with the body of Christ. When God’s people through God’s power come together, the impossible can happen.”

Local government was also visible through the support of Dallas mayor, Mike Rawlings. In a special video message, Mayor Rawlings specifically addressed pastors and church leaders on the need for the initiative by saying, “We are now the number one city in America in regards to the percent of our population living at or above poverty level . . . The power of togetherness can change our city.I love Dallas, and I know our churches can make a difference.”

Matt Chandler, the teaching pastor for The Village church and the final speaker of the evening applauded Movement Day’s emphasis on diversity, saying, “I think anytime you can get people together from different tribes and different churches who are serious about the Gospel, the cross-pollination of networks and ideas acts as the catalyst for real change to occur.”

In the afternoon, participants broke into smaller groups based on their chosen “design track”, receiving specific information, training, and resources to connect with others and mobilize change within their own communities. Twelve tracks were offered, including education, ExploreGod (http://www.exploregod.com), hunger, human trafficking, prison re-entry, immigrant and orphan care, marketplace impact, leadership, public safety chaplain support, financial stability, and youth leadership.

Sponsors for the movement include design team: The New York City Leadership Center, World Vision, Initiative, and Unite. Co-hosts include Explore God, Weir’s Furniture, Denison Forum on Truth & Culture, Park Cities Baptist Church, Concord Church, and Woodlawn Dare to Believe. Lead Partners include Dallas Baptist University and Buckner International. Community sponsors include Dallas Theological Seminary, Highland Park Presbyterian Church, Dallas Baptist Assoc., Behind Every Door Min., Child Evangelism Fellowship, A Prayed 4 City, Lemonade Day, Kids Hope USA, Texas Baptists, and Catholic Charities of Fort Worth.

Dr. Mac Pier, founder of Movement Day and the New York City Leadership Center envisions taking the model of the collaborative urban initiative to other U.S cities and, potentially, to other global cities in the near future.

“The greatest demographic reality in the world today is that there are 7,000 people moving into sizable cities every hour,” he explained. “We’re working on a global gathering in 2016 that will be, as far as we know, the first of its kind in church history. We’re expecting 5,000 leaders from 75 global cities to come and Movement Day Greater Dallas is really creating a template for how to do this in a city and for a city.”

Movement Day Greater Dallas (http://www.movementdaygreaterdallas.com/) is a collaborative leadership initiative of The New York City Leadership Center (http://www.nycleadership.com/) founded by Dr. Mac Pier. As the first replication of Movement Day (http://www.movementday.com/) in New York City, MDGD is a model for expanding gospel movements in cities around the world. Our mission is to accelerate city transformation through Christian communities working together in the Greater Dallas area.

For more information regarding Movement Day Greater Dallas, visit www.movementdaygreaterdallas.com