In 1985, Christ On the Mall (COtM) began as a vision of a Youth With a Mission (YWAM) group from Texas. That vision was to have a presence in Washington, D.C. on the Mall during July 4th. In those days, groups like the Beach Boys played right by the Washington Monument. Seizing the opportunity to be at the biggest party of the year in the Nation’s Capitol with over 500,000 in attendance, YWAM was right where they needed to be next to the Washington Monument sharing the life-changing message of God's love with anyone that they could.

YWAM then handed the ministry oversight to some local churches in D.C. area. Jon Meyers from Christ Our Shepherd Church helped to organize about five other churches to start the idea of churches serving together for outreach on the Mall on July 4th. It was during these years that the ministry began to develop and a number of bands played at the outreach.

One of the churches involved, Harvest Christian Fellowship from Reston, VA, which was started by Greg Laurie's ministry from California, coordinated the effort for a number of years under the guidance of Pastor Jim O'Keefe, Chris Cole and Steve Wilburn. COtM began to focus even more heavily on using local bands and speakers to reach out to the crowds gathered on July 4th. For years the main stage was just one block east of the Washington Monument until that area was closed off.

In about 1992, WAVA radio (105.1 FM) began to get involved with COtM. WAVA also has a passion to link churches and ministries in the area together in relationship for outreach. So, the vision of COtM fit perfectly with them. As a result, they have been a key partner with COtM ever since.

In 1997, coordination of the ministry was given to a local multi-church outreach ministry named Capital Outreach. Capital Outreach was of a “grass roots” outreach ministry with the vision of bringing the church to people. Capital Outreach and COtM fit well together since both were multi-church focused. At its peak, Capital Outreach had over fifteen churches involved in reaching out the D.C. area through music, drama and dance. Churches involved over the years were McLean Bible Church, Immanuel Bible Church, Reston Bible Church, Rhema Christian Center, Truro Episcopal Church, O'Hev Israel Congregation, Oakbrook Community Church, Church of the Apostles, Christ Our Shepherd, The People's Temple, Calvary Road Baptist Church, Columbia Baptist Church, Montrose Baptist Church, Christian Fellowship Church, Evangel Temple and more.

Capital Outreach venues included Reston Town Center, Dupont Circle, The Lincoln Memorial, Constitution Gardens, Farragut Square, Freedom Plaza and more. During Christmas, Capital Outreach moved indoor and made appearances at local malls including Landmark Mall and Springfield Mall. Capital Outreach became part of Metro Community Ministries, the main sponsor of Christ On the Mall.

We thank God that He has given us this awesome privilege and opportunity to share His love with so many thousands of people over the years!

And, we are very grateful to the many volunteers who have served so diligently and faithfully from local churches, bands and ministries over the years to make Christ On the Mall what it is … and has been for so many years! We are also thankful to the many individuals, organizations and ministries that have supported Christ On the Mall financially over the years! Without you there is no Christ On the Mall!