By Clare BruceWednesday 11 Mar 2020NewsReading Time: 2 minutes
An estimated 1000 people took to the streets of Sydney on Sunday afternoon for a colourful procession known as the Holy City March.
Led by the Christian Democratic Party’s Reverend Fred Nile, and the Salvation Army’s Major Hwan Ki Kim, president of the ‘Holy Spirit movement’ in Sydney, along with leaders from Sydney’s multicultural churches, the parade travelled from Belmore Park to Martin Place, and featured music, cultural drummers, singing and dance.
Above: Reverend Fred Nile and leaders of multicultural churches at the head of the parade.
Marchers hauled a float displaying the seven colours of the rainbow and Celtic style beasts representing Biblical creatures, with a large sign reading “The Promises of God”. Performers were dressed in costume as warriors and angels, and carried golden shields, red crosses, rainbow banners, and a cubist-style sculpture of a golden lion’s head, representing the Lion of Judah.
Reverend Nile, who has led 15 of the annual marches in Sydney, as well as several similar marches in South Korea, explained that event aims to promote an atmosphere of faith and church unity, and to proclaim the sovereignty of God in the city streets.
He said the day was a great success.
“It was fantastic, people were singing and praising God all the way through the city streets, right through to Martin Place,” he said. “We’ve never had so many people on the street looking on and clapping. There was no negativity or detractors, and people were videoing and photographing.”
The march ended with an open air worship concert in Martin Place.
The concept of Holy City Marches originated many years ago in South Korea, when that nation was having a faith revival. Churches wanting to promote Christian values in the public arena launched annual marches on the streets to publicly declare their faith.
Melbourne also hosts an annual Holy City march, and Fred and Silvana Nile’s vision is to see them held in every capital city of Australia.
Above: The Holy City March ended with an open air worship concert in Martin Place.