Twelve thousand people came together in SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon for a weekend of worship and evangelism. Come Together 2023 was held June 2-4 as a time to assemble for worship and to share the message of Jesus with others..Country singer George Canyon and worship leader Charity Gayle sang at the event and shared their personal stories of faith. A youth event followed the main session Friday evening. Saturday afternoon included a car show, face painting, motorcycles, food, and skateboarding, with more singing and faith stories shared in the evening. Ottawa pastor Bill Prankard also ministered..Pastor Terri Murphy from Regina Victory Church attended on Saturday and said Canyon was a big draw..“That brought a lot of people in so that we saw people coming into the stadium that would never set foot in a church,” Murphy said in an interview with the Western Standard..“I've never felt the Holy Spirit more strongly in that whole week than at that moment, just one man on the stage of the stadium filled with thousands of people, one man and his guitar, and tears running down his face singing How Great Thou Art.”.Tyrelle Smith, a female evangelist from the nearby town of Tisdale shared the message of salvation, to which hundreds responded. .“Hundreds and hundreds of people that just filled the front of the aisles coming to receive Christ for the first time. It was really powerful,” Murphy said..Murphy said a member of her church shared to the audience on Friday night that her foot was healed, but there were more healings after songwriter Charity Gayle led worship on Saturday..“People showed their face and their hands, they were receiving all kinds of healings, wheelchair gone…There were a few testimonies, people that flooded up to say yes, they had a measurable healing. And there were doctors on the side to confirm and interview the people.”.The event was the culmination of months of work, with numerous churches participating. Leaders training events were held at two churches Jan 19, “mobilization” events were held at Ebenezer Baptist Church Mar 4 and Apr 22, and outreach occurred May 22-25..Smith, an evangelist for Gospel Fire for All Nations, felt led to make the gathering happen, something she recalled on the event page..“I prayed and said, ‘God, if this is what you want, I’ll do it! Put something in my hands today from SaskTel Centre Stadium and I am 100% in, but if you don’t, I am 100% out!” she recalled..“Within an hour, and with no one knowing what I prayed, a man put TWO photos in my hands. One of Billy Graham preaching in SaskTel Centre Stadium and the other is a picture of the promo!”.The 1995 Billy Graham evangelistic event ran four days in Saskatoon and was the first of its kind where son Franklin Graham joined to minister.
