Gatesville churches unite for four-day Awaken revival starting Sunday

Gatesville churches will gather next week for Awaken Gatesville, a four-day tent revival hosted by the Gatesville Ministerial Alliance that runs Sunday evening, May 17, through Wednesday, May 20, at 6:30 p.m. each night at First Methodist Church, 2600 East Main Street.

The revival is being framed as a community-wide effort, not a single-church event. Organizers are encouraging congregations across Gatesville and Coryell County to come together for prayer and participation, with evangelist Ryan Barnett leading worship and local musicians joining in to give the services a distinctly hometown feel.

Barnett brings more than 20 years of local church ministry experience. He has served congregations in Waco, Kerrville, Corpus Christi and San Antonio, and he now serves as chair of the Connectional Council of the MidTexas Conference of the Global Methodist Church. Baylor University’s Truett Seminary identifies him as an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church and says he serves as program advisor to the Wesley House of Studies.

Prayer has also been a central part of the buildup. Debbie Martin, the prayer coordinator for First Methodist Church, has been visiting congregations around town to invite believers to join in focused prayer ahead of the revival. That outreach underscores the way local churches are trying to widen the event beyond the sanctuary doors and into the broader life of the city.

The setting adds another layer of local significance. First Methodist Church says it was officially organized on January 11, 1855, with 16 members, and its first building was constructed in 1860. The revival will unfold at a congregation with deep roots in a county seat that has continued to grow, from 16,135 people in the 2020 census to an estimated 16,388 in 2024. Coryell County rose from 83,093 residents in 2020 to an estimated 86,370 in 2024.

For Gatesville, Awaken is being presented as more than a short-run series of sermons. It is a countywide invitation to worship, music and prayer in one of the city’s oldest Methodist settings, with organizers aiming to stir faith and bring churches together for four consecutive nights on East Main Street.