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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Evangelicals from across the country gathered by the
thousands on the National Mall in Washington Saturday in support of returning to core Evangelical issues - but also addressing some political ones.

The event was organized by a religious group known as "The Call." It was described as a time for prayer and fasting. But some participants talked politics as well.

"Those issues have historically not been political, they have been made political. When court imposed abortion, it became a political issue. When courts impose same sex marriage, it becomes a political issue, but those were issues within the realm of the church for years. They become political issues only in terms of how they are being discussed today," Tony Perkins, head of the
Family Research Council, told CNN.

The organization is opposed to abortion rights and same-sex marriage.

Many attendees were young, and sang along with bands playing contemporary Christian music as the lyrics were displayed on giant television screens.

Mike Huckabee, former GOP presidential candidate, former Arkansas governor and an ordained Baptist minister, made an appearance, telling the crowd he was appearing as a pastor, not a politician.

"It is easy to point fingers at the people who work and serve in this place, and to blame them for the problems that we face in this country, but the problems that this country has are with us, who claim we know the Lord but have not lived it, and we've not been as faithful," Huckabee told the crowd. "So, repentance and revival cannot start in the building behind me until it starts in the temple inside me," he said referring to the U.S. Capitol.

Jim Hester, a pastor from Alabama, watched from a lawn chair. Hester, who said he'll vote in November but is "not a registered anything" said abortion was one of his top issues.

"I believe it speaks to character," he said. "I believe that someone who's willing to stand up for life period - there's a character definition in that."

The Rev. Rick Warren appears on The Situation Room Thursday

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Rev. Rick Warren said Thursday that his upcoming forum with Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama will be aimed at asking them tough "heartland questions."

The author of the best-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life" is to interview McCain and Obama on Saturday.

The candidates will appear together at Warren's 20,000-member Saddleback mega-church in southern California.

"Well, I'm a pastor, not a pundit," he told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux on Thursday's "Situation Room." "One of the things we're going to do is I'm going to ask identical questions to both candidates, which will be different.

"I'm not going to play 'gotcha' with one candidate and not with the other. This way, it will be totally fair. You compare apples to apples," he added.

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Candidates are increasingly having to defend their religious views in campaigns.

While John McCain and Barack Obama appear together Saturday at a minister-moderated forum held in a church, thousands of evangelicals are expected to gather in the nation’s capital to pressure both men move further to the right on the social issues.

TheCall - a group representing so-called “values voters” – will hold a rally on the National Mall as both candidates speak at Pastor Rick Warren’s 20,000-member Saddleback mega church in southern California, where the author of the best-selling book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” is slated to interview both McCain and Obama.

TheCall, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council - a Christian organization that opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights - will hold a press conference in Washington Friday to push McCain and Obama to delve further into issues facing evangelical voters, The Hill newspaper reported Saturday.

Former GOP presidential candidate and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee will also attend the press conference, according to the paper.

Lou Engle, Founder of the Justice House of Prayer, says “it's time for TheCall to expand to the national stage in an historic gathering in our nation's capital this Saturday,” according to the group’s Web site.

He says it isn't a conference or a festival, but rather a “a solemn assembly - a gathering of all ages, races and denominations. The 12 hours of TheCall are spent primarily before the Lord in prayer and worship.”

While McCain is generally considered a moderate, evangelicals leaders say they do not believe he has adopted consistently conservative positions on some social issues. The Republican is against abortion rights and opposes same-sex marriage, but is a supporter of embryonic stem cell research – a position that many religious groups oppose.

Obama’s position in favor of abortion rights and same-sex civil unions have also created some tension among evangelical voters otherwise drawn to his candidacy this cycle.

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