Revival in churches is simply a rejuvenation - a reorientation around God.

Monday night, two York County churches bound by an awful part of history - but connected by location and sometimes even blood - come together for a single revival that, in its simplicity and purpose, exemplifies what Christians say is true because of their faith.

There is a single Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ - we had better get used to being together in it.

Bethesda Presbyterian Church outside McConnells, a 250-year-old white church that traces its roots in part to the Bratton plantation that held slaves in that area, is holding its annual revival.

Invited to share in that revival are the members of Mount Zion Baptist Church, the black congregation from just down the road that was formed in 1863 by the slaves of some of the members at Bethesda.

The idea came a few weeks ago from the Rev. Daniel Smoak, pastor at Bethesda for the last couple of years. For Bethesda's 250th anniversary earlier this summer, about 25 members of Mount Zion came to be a part of the celebration.

"They sat right in the front center, and I realized even more that this was a powerful connection we have here," Smoak said.

He had heard that years ago, several of Bethesda's members and its choir participated at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at Mount Zion.

Members of the two congregations have come together to distribute food to the hungry.

But this is different. This is church.

"It is, simply, a way of bringing people together, to show folks what the love of God looks like, what the kingdom of God looks like," Smoak said. "To bring together people to worship is important.

"This isn't two churches getting together for hot dogs. This is two churches that have a deep connection, getting together to celebrate their common faith and heritage."

Smoak approached the Rev. Anthony Johnson, the pastor at Mount Zion, who not only accepted, but agreed to preach at the revival each night.

"I was particularly impressed with Daniel's theme for revival - the need for service," Johnson said. "It was clearly the right thing to do.

"To come back 147 years after Mount Zion was formed by the people who had been enslaved from this area, and preach about the love we all share for God, is truly exciting."

The timing could not be better.

Both churches sit close to Historic Brattonsville, the site of the former Bratton Plantation that is run by the York County museum.

An annual program that has been put on at Brattonsville about the slave experience there - "By the Sweat of Our Brows" - was presented this weekend.

"The connection is a part of who these churches are," Johnson said. "It is a part of the people in the churches. This revival together is evidence of shared Christian love.

"It is powerful and profound."

Some of the blacks from that area have found, in researching their own heritage over the years, that they shared Bethesda church heritage and blood ties from the slave masters, said Margaret Crawford-Parson, a lifelong member of Mount Zion.

For the past few years, those blacks have met to talk about - and come to grips with - their connection to those days and that church.

"This revival is a part of who we are at both churches," Crawford-Parson said. "We have a shared heritage. We sometimes have a shared ancestry. It is time we shared our services."

Smoak's membership at Bethesda, like Johnson's congregation at Mount Zion, immediately embraced the idea of a joint revival.

"Human nature is to drift, but revival is a time to recommit," Smoak said. "What better time for all of us to share that experience?"

So Monday and Tuesday, the pews will not be filled just by the whites of Bethesda, but also with the blacks of Mount Zion.

Mount Zion's choirs - and a choir from nearby Oakland Avenue Presbyterian in Rock Hill - will fill the Bethesda sanctuary air with sound.

Smoak will yield his pulpit to Johnson, who uses no notes and no prepared remarks. Johnson riffs with guidance from the Holy Spirit. He admits he has been known to be a bit long-winded.

The Bethesda preacher fully expects his congregation to be treated to a different cultural experience than what they normally get.

The Mount Zion preacher is used to a congregation that will stomp and shout praises to the Lord - Bethesda is normally a bit more reserved.

And Smoak is so excited, he can barely stand it.

"I have been practicing and am ready to shout out, 'Amen!' right along with everyone else," Smoak said. "I want our congregation to experience that.

"I want them to know it, hear it, experience it."

Johnson, a former Rock Hill NAACP president who has led services for everyone from the U.S. Congress to the Baltimore Ravens football team,knows his audience will be different from the one he normally preaches to on Sunday.

"I fully expect to feed off the energy and the presence of God among all the people in this church," Johnson said. "Culturally in church, we do things differently. Their membership may not respond the way our membership does in our normal setting.

"But that does not matter. What matters is we do this together."

Both pastors, Smoak and Johnson, said Jesus Christ would often have to revive himself in his own faith.

It is in that spirit that this unprecedented revival will happen Monday and Tuesday, inside a church sanctuary built in 1820 by the hands of people - free and slave - who in those days were so different.

In fact, at Bethesda, the balcony where slaves once sat during worship services remains.

But on Monday and Tuesday - any day, these days - anyone can sit front and center, downstairs.

Or they can stand in the aisles and shout.

Or they can hold hands clasped in prayer.

Together.

Want to go?

What: Revival services for the congregations of Bethesda Presbyterian Church and Mount Zion Baptist Church

When: 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday

Where: Bethesda Presbyterian Church, 4858 McConnells Highway (S.C. 322), about 10 miles southwest of Rock Hill

Who: The public is invited.