Bethel Music, KB set to headline free open-air worship event in Kansas; Westboro Baptist Church to protest 'satanic tunes'

Event to mark 125th anniversary of Pentecostal 'outpouring'

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, August 13, 2026

The skies above Kansas are set to be filled with worship, prayer and protesting next month.

Thousands are expected to attend Open Skies, an inaugural event featuring internationally acclaimed Bethel Music with Jenn Johnson and Dove Award-winning hip-hop artist KB. Set for Sept. 26 at Evergy Plaza in downtown Topeka, Open Skies is being billed as an “intentional gathering that brings together globally recognized artists and the community to celebrate worship, seek the Holy Spirit and invite people to discover and follow Jesus." 

The evening will include world-class live music, food trucks and a community gathering. Johnson and Bethel Music are known for songs such as “Goodness of God,” “It Is Well,” “Raise a Hallelujah” and “Reckless Love.” KB is a Dove Award-winning rapper, pastor and author whose albums have topped Billboard’s Christian Albums chart.

While the headlining acts might be well known to Evangelicals, event organizers say Open Skies “welcomes people from across Christian traditions, as well as those who may not consider themselves people of faith but are looking for a family friendly evening of incredible music, hope and community.”

The free event will also coincide with the 125th anniversary of the 1901 Topeka Outpouring, when a small group of believers gathered at Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible School in Topeka, where Parham and others claimed that several students at the event received the ability to interpret and translate the speech of others into English, though their writings were said to be indecipherable by linguists.

The gathering was regarded as a key moment in the birth of the modern Pentecostal movement.

Cody Foster, founder of AIM Strategies and the AIM 5 Foundation, which is hosting the Open Skies event, said the Topeka Outpouring was part of a broader move of God in the area. 

“I believe God has been moving in Topeka for generations, and when you step back and look at our history, it makes perfect sense why. Throughout Scripture, God often chooses overlooked people and unexpected places to accomplish extraordinary things, and Topeka’s story reflects that same pattern,” he told The Christian Post. 

Foster said despite choosing Topeka as the location, Open Skies isn’t intended as an exclusively Pentecostal event. “Open Skies isn’t about celebrating one tradition over another,” he said. “As we commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Topeka Outpouring, we want to continue seeking the Holy Spirit and celebrate God’s faithfulness, asking Him to continue transforming lives today.”

The Open Skies event is also expected to draw protesters from Westboro Baptist Church, the controversial Topeka-based group best known for its protests targeting soldiers' funerals, celebrities and all persons and events that they deem as being supportive of homosexuals or the American government. 

When asked whether the organization was planning to protest Open Skies, Jonathan B. Phelps, an elder and spokesman for the group, told CP that “Bethel and its kind have lied on Christ” throughout the church’s history in Topeka.

“These so-called Christian bands cater to the flesh, preach a false doctrine of human-worship, and lure thousands to the ever-popular broad path to Hell,” Phelps told CP, adding that the “surge in numbers rocking it out and gyrating to these satanic tunes is an encouraging sign” that we are in what he called “the last days.”

He invited anyone attending the Open Skies event to “resist this flesh-pandering noise” and “just walk across the street to hold a Bible sign with the humble thankful souls from Westboro Baptist Church. That’s hope and life.”