Generation Rising in Cocoa: The Vision of Christian Unity Behind Worship in the Park

COCOA VILLAGE — Hundreds of voices filled Cocoa Village Riverfront Park with Christian worship in late September as Generation Rising hosted its annual Worship in the Park, drawing what organizers described as the event’s largest turnout yet.

The multi-church gathering featured a rotating lineup of local singers, musicians and worship groups, along with personal testimonies and a presentation of the Gospel. Families spread out across the lawn while children, teenagers and young adults gathered near the stage for the Sept. 26 event.

“This year is the biggest turnout I've seen,” said Nick Saporito, a Christian music artist who served as program director for this year’s event. “It’s been amazing. It’s been so fun.”

Saporito participated as a musician last year before Generation Rising founder Jennifer McDowell asked him to organize this year’s worship program. He said organizers distributed about 150 flyers throughout Cocoa and Cocoa Village, put out signs and heavily promoted the gathering through Facebook and Eventbrite.

Saporito, who attends Braving Grace Church locally in Cocoa, sought to bring more variety to the stage this year, inviting friends and fellow musicians to participate alongside local groups such as Way Table Worship.

“I just had to invite them here because they are awesome, and they have such a love for God,” Saporito said of Way Table Worship.

Some of the evening’s collaborations were less planned. Saporito said he met one of the keyboard players for the first time at the event before the musician joined the worship team onstage.

For Saporito, however, the goal was about more than assembling a lineup of musicians.

“I love to lead people in worship and bring people into the presence of God,” he said. “I would hope they leave with an understanding of who God is, and the Holy Spirit encounters them tonight in a miraculous way.”

From an Event to a Ministry

McDowell, who fellowships at Georgianna Church in Merritt Island, said Worship in the Park traces its roots to an event she organized at Launch Pad Sports Complex in 2019. After meeting a Catholic priest in Mexico who needed to fill the final leg of a U.S. tour with a group of students, McDowell invited them to stay with her in Brevard. During the visit, McDowell and the priest discovered they shared a concern for youth. Six months later, that conversation led to the launch of Generation Rising.

“It wasn’t a big turnout. Not at all,” McDowell said of the 2019 event. “It was so expensive. We advertised on billboards and everything.”

Still, she remembers at least one young man who attended and believes the event made a meaningful difference in his life.

“I really think I did it for this one guy,” McDowell said. “I feel like [God] did it for him.”

McDowell later worked to establish Generation Rising as a nonprofit before moving the gathering to Cocoa Village Riverfront Park. Saturday marked the third year the event has been held at the park.

McDowell said this year's crowd far surpassed previous events, particularly among the young people the ministry originally hoped to reach.

“All these kids—I mean, we’re for kids, really, youth and young adults,” McDowell said as she looked out over the crowd. “It’s phenomenal.”

The format alternates worship with personal testimony before concluding with a Gospel message and invitation to respond.

“It’s an audience of One,” McDowell said. “We’re just here to worship the Lord, not entertain—to get people to enter His presence.”

Bringing the Church Together

Worship in the Park is only one part of Generation Rising’s work. McDowell said the organization also helps other ministries hold fundraising events, sometimes covering costs such as facilities and production, and is exploring ways to meet physical needs in the community.

But another part of its mission is creating opportunities for Christians from different congregations and ministries to meet one another.

“We’re really about bringing all the churches together, all the Christian churches and ministries,” McDowell said. “We try to get them to come out because nobody knows what anybody else does.”

“If we could come together, share our resources,” she added, “I think we could conquer.”

For Saporito, Saturday's turnout offered a glimpse of what Worship in the Park could become. He said organizers plan to return next year and hope to continue growing the annual gathering.

“I hope that it can continue to get out there and grow each and every year,” he said. “Hopefully, one day, completely pack it out.”

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