Why Are So Many Christian Musicians (Like Casting Crowns) Performing At This Roman Catholic Music Festival?
The Fest is an “Annual one-day event that brings people together from all regions to enjoy an inspiring day of faith, family & fun!” Designed to “Inspire and energize teens, young adults, and families in the Northeast Ohio region, the event features concerts, activities for children, food trucks, and fellowship, attracting tens of thousands of people each year.
The bands are one of the largest draws, and over the years, some of the biggest acts in Christian music have performed there, including Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, Jeremy Camp, Jars of Clay (ie Jars of Gay) , Casting Crowns, Big Daddy Weave, Switchfoot, Skillet, Third Day, for King & Country, Mercy Me, Matt Maher, Crowder, Toby Mac, Phil Wickham, We the Kingdom, and Chris Tomlin.
The upcoming 2025 fest will be headlined by Casting Crowns, which will mark their fifth appearance.
Of special note is that Casting Crown’s lead vocalist, Mark Hall, is a youth pastor at Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church, which is affiliated with the SBC and where he can be seen leading worship. Some other members of the group are reportedly attending this church and ministering there as well.
All in all, The Fest sounds like a good time of faith and fellowship, until you realize who is running the event, and why.
The Fest was founded by Father Bob Stec in 2000, who at the time was the Vocations Director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, which is still a major sponsor.
Initially called “Home from Rome,” Stec created the event to “Welcome the diocesan contingent home from their trip to Rome for World Youth Day,” but eventually changed its name to The Fest.
The event takes place on the grounds of The Center For Pastoral Leadership, which is home to Saint Mary Seminary & Graduate School of Theology, and Borromeo Seminary, two seminaries that raise and train Roman Catholic priests.
While the Christian bands, petting zoos, and face painting make it seem like it’s a denominationally neutral event, all the faith-based programming makes it clear that it’s an outreach for Roman Catholic people, places, events, and institutions designed to draw folk to them, raise awareness of the church and seminary, encourage folks to engage in papist-specific theological practices, convert the unconverted and entrench the faith of the doubting.
This is why there is also place called The Education Village, which is area “Specifically dedicated to promoting Catholic education to the tens of thousands of youth and young families that attend The FEST.”
Some of the faith-based events include Eucharistic adoration, where attendees can “spend a few minutes praying in the presence of Jesus,” a giveaway to children of the brown scapular, which “features an image of the Eucharist and the words Our Lady spoke to St. Simon Stock when she blessed his order with the brown scapular devotion” and explains that anyone who dies wearing it will not go to hell.
There is a time of confession, tours of the seminary, a familial blessing from a deacon, a large outdoor mass before the fireworks show, a prayer tent, a rosary tent, and a place for children to stop playing for five minutes and come and pray.
And Casting Crowns, with their Southern Baptist frontman, along with all those other professing Christian musicians either went or are just going along with this promotion of the false religion and false gospel of the Roman Catholic church like there’s not a problem in the world.
h/t Spencer Smith and this video
About Author
Contemporary ‘Christian’ music comes from apostasy. It is a bridge to the Catholic Church, and it is a bridge to the world. That’s not an opinion, the jury is out. Many a godly man warned where it would lead. They were correct and they’ve been vindicated.