Some conservative Christian leaders have urged people not to take part in the March of Jesus in Belfast this Saturday, which is expected to attract around 10,000 people.
According to the March for Jesus website, the global movement is “an extravagant worship celebration for Jesus in full public view”.
Beginning in 1987 in London, organisers say it later attracted some 12 million participants in 170 countries.
However concerns are being expressed from some Christians who hold strongly to Reformation values that the event is working in partnership with the Roman Catholic Church.
Rev Roger Higginson from Lisburn Free Presbyterian Church expressed his concerns on Facebook, qualifying them by saying there is "no doubt in my mind that many good people will attend".
But he added that he was "appealing to those who know and love the Lord to be very, very careful" adding that "the Reformation happened for a reason".
He said that the reformers held that Christ is the only mediator between God and man; that His sacrifice eliminates the need to earn salvation, and that scripture alone is the authority for Christian teaching.
Catholic teaching, he argued, holds that other mediators are available; the mass is an ongoing sacrifice and that tradition is placed on an equal authority with scripture.
Christian speaker Cecil Andrews took a similar stance, urging that "true and faithful Christians should take no part in this planned march".
A March for Jesus in 1990 had a Catholic Priest on the council of reference and in 1992 a group from Clonard Monastery took part in a march, he said.
The "false premise" for the marches, he said, was the commission given to Joshua in the Bible to go and claim the promised land.
Mr Andrews also said that several satellite churches of an "heretical" US church organsation - which he said believes in modern apostles and prophets - had been promoting it on their Facebook sites.
Finally, he noted that a sister march in Dublin was promoted by a Roman Catholic Archbishop, "confirming its ecumental nature" and that a priest from Maynooth College was promoting the Belfast event.
But organiser Pastor John Ahern from All Nations Church, which has branches in Dublin and Belfast, said he could only conclude that critics are “sincere but misinformed”.
He added: “The March does not have any formal or informal connection with the Catholic Church. It is an evangelical initiative, not an ecumenical one," he told the News Letter.
"The March For Jesus however is open to all Christians, irrespective of denomination - and non Christians for that matter.
He said a video of a priest promoting the event was shared on his official Facebook page while he was on holiday, but that the individual concerned didn't understand the issues and that the pastor later deleted it - but that he holds "no ill will to the priest in question".
He also defended his wife having the title of "pastor" in his church "as a gesture of respect for the work she does in helping me as I lead".
The pastor said that leading clerics from a range of denominations have confirmed they will be attending the event.
The Methodist Church in Ireland confirmed that it will be represented at the march.
