It is late afternoon and still hot under the red-and-white tent at the corner of Athens and Mill streets.

As a train chugs by a block away, the whistle blows.

Churchgoers sit and patiently fan themselves in the thick air. Their wooden chairs are there not only for convenience, but to allow attendees to hear God's word.

But before the Rev. Clarence Thrower from St. Paul United Methodist Church on Summit Street takes the podium, a lone man gets up and sings an old Southern gospel song - one that's even difficult to find on the Web site YouTube.

"Hallelujah, for the storm is passing over, hallelujah.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, cause I know the storm is passing over, hallelujah.

Talk about me as much as you please

before you talk I want to bend my knees

'cause I know the storm is passing over, hallelujah."

As the song continued, Thrower prepared himself to take the stage at the revival, which took place the last week of July in Gainesville.

It's a role Thrower is familiar with.

A pastor for nearly 27 years, he's in the midst of a four-week stretch of revivals and has about eight more to go this year.

And throughout his years of preaching, he's seen a definite change in revivals.

"Revivals have changed for several reasons," he said. "Parents yesterday had just their job and church. They didn't mind going to revival five nights and a 3 p.m. service and homecoming. ... It was almost like an outing and recreation."

Also, Thrower said revivals when he was younger didn't really have a specific start or finish time, which added to the reunion-type atmosphere.

Years ago, revivals also were called camp meeting, according to Charri Jones, secretary at St. Paul United Methodist.

"It was more of a family function ... we really looked forward to that time in the summer," said Jones, who said camp meeting was in Cleveland. "We come in to get refueled, to help win souls for Christ."

But in today's world, it's more difficult to work revival into everyone's busy life.

"Society offers up so much today. ... Generation X and the last part of the Baby Boomers, they are not involved in revival but most will be involved in the ministry of the church. They might go to a revival but only two nights. This is why the black church, the white church, all churches have cut revival down to three nights."

But black or white, folks listened to Thrower's message on the last night of the community tent revival, sponsored by St. Paul and other churches. He focused on staying committed to prayer.

"Oh, my brothers and my sisters, I discovered that in this life that whenever you call on the Lord he doesn't come every time we call. Sometimes God wants to see us, sometimes God wants to hear us through it over and over and over and over and over again. ... Somebody said don't you get discouraged about praying, don't you stop praying, you just keep on praying because if you keep on praying you might be one prayer away from God answering your prayer. Don't stop trying, don't stop trying. Keep on praying because you may be one teardrop away from God answering your prayer."

These constant prayers are how Thrower creates his Sunday sermons and revival presentations.

"I write it down when God shows me things. If I'm in my car I use a recorder; I compile my sermon and an introduction and two or three points," he said. "I don't like to use a manuscript because sometimes a manuscript will stop you from using the holy spirit."

Thrower begins his preparations on Sunday night, a week ahead of time, and uses outside influences to mold his sermons, along with meditation.

"I observe my congregation, and I observe what's going on in the community, town, Georgia, United States. And I ask God to give me information that I can enlighten my congregation," he said. "Then I use Scripture and use it in everyday life."

Everyday life also is where the Rev. Manuel Maldonado takes his inspiration for his sermons. But on Wednesday night of the revival - his first revival as a pastor - his entire sermon changed just before he took the stage.

"It was the first time I testified of what happened in my life," said Maldonado, pastor at Iglesia Pentecostal Shekinah de Jehovah in Oakwood. "It was not part of the plan of me preaching -a lady said to me at the revival, ‘I want to hear your testimony' and I talked to my wife ... and she said she thought maybe people would identify with me."

"I'm going to tell you why God likes that you may be in the desert because I found myself in the desert. I was a child brought up in the Gospel, I was brought up in the church. My father was a Christian, my grandfather was a pastor, I found myself yet in the desert. At the age of 8 years old, the trust of my family with some neighbors ... abused me, they sexually abused me for three years ... and listen, I was going through a desert. I'm not ashamed to say it because God made me a man.

"But it does not finish there. As I was growing, I took the bad habits that I would take that wasn't mine. I thought it was mine because I was taking it, but I began to grow. And even though I had the fear of God, in my mind I was still struggling with that stage of my life. At the age of 17, they arrested me as I was involved in an armed robbery. From the age of 17 to the age of 27 I was coming in and out of jail ... then I was made an addict when I came out. When I used drugs I would take the needles and share them with people that had AIDS, I would inject myself, I would see the blood coming through my veins, but through the glory of God ... he had a purpose for me."

Maldonado said the purpose of his testimony at the revival was to tell people, "that no matter the situation you are going through, God is always going to provide a way to escape."

The pastor shared his testimony in Spanish while the Rev. Newlin Vargas of Gainesville interpreted in English.

The duo worked together, with a call-and-response cadence indicative of a pair with lots of experience at the revival stage.

But, Maldonado said, it was the first time for him and Vargas to work together that way.

"For me being the first time I was a little nervous, and I think it was a success," he said. "This time I was just praying and asking God to guide me and what to say.

"I knew there would be churches there supporting the revival ... my focus was for those people."

Evangelist Tonya "Tee" Moon shared her message on Thursday night, which also was designed to relate to the people who sat under the tent and across the lawn.

"Tent revival is an opportunity to reach out to people and say, ‘We love you, we welcome you,'" Moon said. "I think the most important is to share your own experiences. I share my testimony and I know there are broken-hearted women out here."

And Moon's testimony touched the heart of revival committee member Barbara Phillips.

"I really was blessed by evangelist Moon's message," said Phillips, a member of Antioch Baptist Church. "It was basically about how we have to tell the devil we changed our minds. It was like the woman at the well and the town had turn their backs against her and you know she was in a bad way. But Jesus looked beyond her faults and he said, ‘Because of your faith you are made whole.' So that would apply to anybody who has been victimized by the things of the world."

And that was the purpose of the revival - to encourage and uplift.

"What is awesome about it (revival) is we can come together," Moon said. "We can come together and lay our denominations down, we can lay our churches down. It doesn't matter if you are white, black or blue or if you come from the Baptist faith or the Holiness faith. We can come together because we serve one God."

As the sun set on the final evening, it was a time for reflection for all who attended the week's evening events.

"The purpose was to draw those who are lost, and we are praying that souls are saved," Phillips said. "It is for church folks because we all need to be revived - but we are seeking those who are lost.

"We are all one body in Christ, and we just want to break down these walls and really start fellowshipping one with another."