David’s Tent has been worshipping for over six months straight—and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. David’s Tent is a 24/7 worship tent set up at the foot of the Washington Monument, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It’s named after how, in 1 Chronicles 15, David constructed a tent for the ark of the covenant and staffed it with worship singers and musicians for the length of his reign.
Jason Hershey founded David’s Tent in 2012, running it for 40 days to correspond with the 2012 election. In 2013, David’s Tent ran for 42 days, reaching 1,000 consecutive hours of worship. In 2014, David’s Tent did 50 days, one for each state. And on Sept. 11, 2015, David’s Tent started its most recent run—one that won’t end until Nov. 8 (Election Day).
Ryan Montgomery, administrative director for David’s Tent, explained the heart of the organization and their three objectives.
“There are three primary reasons why we do David’s Tent,” Montgomery says. “First, Jesus is worthy. He’s eternally worthy of all worship and glory and honor. Second, (we do it) as an evangelistic witness to Jesus. By sitting here and declaring His worth and His beauty, it makes people curious what’s going on. Ten people just wandering by as tourists in D.C. came to the Lord and were saved just by being drawn in by the worship. We get opportunities to share the gospel all the time, especially with people whose countries are closed to the gospel.
“And third, but probably most important, it’s an act of intercession for America. In worshipping Him, we draw His presence close and turn our nation’s heart toward God.”
Any worship group, regardless of denomination or music genre, can sign up for two-hour blocks of worship. Montgomery says they’ve seen everyone from Anglican priests to Christian rappers lead worship, and that’s part of the beauty of David’s Tent.
“One of the greatest miracles of David’s Tent has been seeing the body of Christ come together in a way that I don’t often see,” Montgomery says. “We know that’s what every tribe and denomination rallies around: the worship of Jesus. We’ve seen everything from black gospel choirs to white Christian boys from New Jersey doing Christian punk sets.”
Anyone interested in visiting David’s Tent or conducting a worship set can find out more information at davidstentdc.org. —Taylor Berglund
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