80K believers gather for prayer, worship at AT&T Stadium with 2819 Church
An estimated 80,000 believers, including several high-profile pastors, gathered with Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell and his 2819 Church at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday for a night of prayer and worship that some attendees said left them feeling God’s presence long after the event ended.
Ed Newton, senior pastor of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas, attended the event, billed as “ACCESS — That Powerful Hour of Prayer,” for which free tickets were all booked in just eight hours. He said it felt like God “walked in the room and spoke right to you.”
“There are moments that God allows His presence to be so evident and real in a tangible way, like He walked in the room and spoke right to you! Tonight was that night! Here it is. ... BEHOLD THE KING IS COMING!” Newton wrote on Facebook. “I honor Philip Anthony Mitchell I honor 2819 CHURCH for a night of a solid hour of prayer, 45 minutes of worship, pleading, warring, contending for our lives, families, cities, nation, and the nations to turn to Christ! Honored to be in the room!”
Josh Howerton, senior pastor of the multisite Lakepointe Church in Texas, said in a statement on X that he was “grateful to have witnessed it.”
“80k ppl gathered at AT&T Stadium tonight to assault heaven in prayer. Grateful for the move of God happening through @PhilipAMitchell and @2819Church … and grateful to have witnessed it,” he wrote.
The 2819 Access Tour, popularly known as “ACCESS,” is an annual event designed entirely around “That Powerful Hour of Prayer.” The event features no celebrity speakers, no official sermon and no standard concert programming. It centers on a unified corporate prayer called “The Cry” and the phrase “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!”
After the Atlanta church’s ACCESS 2025 event drew more than 30,000 people to State Farm Arena, the church moved this year’s gathering to AT&T Stadium.
Mitchell’s church did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment Tuesday. This year’s ACCESS event follows a debate that erupted on social media last month over Mitchell’s ticketed tour with Pastor Tim Timberlake for their “Street Preachers” podcast, which included $200 VIP packages.
Malachi O’Brien, senior pastor of The Church at Pleasant Ridge in Kansas City, Missouri, credits Mitchell’s growing ministry to his faithfulness to God.
O’Brien said the Atlanta pastor, whose new book Contend: Standing Boldly for Biblical Truth While Winning the War Within was released Tuesday, has worked behind the scenes in ministry for years and has a heart for the Gospel.
“THE SECRET TO 2819 CHURCH Last Saturday, more than 80,000 people gathered at AT&T Stadium in Texas to PRAY! It would be easy to see a crowd like that, or watch a viral preaching clip of @PhilipAMitchell and think, ‘Must be nice.’ Or assume you're witnessing an overnight success,” wrote O’Brien on X.
“But here's what you don't see. You don't see one man in 2013, carrying a burden like an Old Testament prophet, crying out to God ALONE. You don't see a ‘small’ prayer meeting of 12 desperate people, on their faces, contending for the presence and power of God. You see the PUBLIC fruit, but you don't see the PRIVATE price,” he explained.
“God rewards in public what He alone sees in secret. If you're reading this, hear me: DO NOT DESPISE THE DAY OF SMALL BEGINNINGS! Before there are crowds, there are closets. Before there are platforms, there are prayer meetings. To be used mightily by God often requires sleepless nights, foodless days, hidden tears, and costly obedience,” he added.
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