SYMBOL - 16 September 2023, Baden-Württemberg, Rottweil: Flower arrangements are attached to a pew in a church before the start of a church wedding. Photo: Silas Stein/dpa (Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Parishioners at an Atlanta church had a New Year’s Eve celebration they won’t forget! And now, social media users won’t either!
On Jan. 2, videos surfaced of the dReam Center Church of Atlanta attendees getting DOWN to some Black culture classics. The clips quickly picked up steam across platforms. On The Shade Room’s Instagram feed, a repost of the lit night garnered over 20,000 comments and more than three million views.
So, what exactly made the posts go viral? Maybe it was the church leaders hyping up the music on stage or the crowd seemingly enjoying the family reunion-like atmosphere.
For context, the church’s New Year’s Eve celebration included blasting songs like Unk’s ‘Walk It Out’ and Lil Wayne’s ‘Swag Surf.’
Watch the moment below.
As mentioned, the roomies started cuttin’ up in the comment section of TSR’s feed post. While some praised the Atlanta church leaders for relating to their parishioners, others said the celebration was inappropriate for the setting.
Starting with Phaedra Parks, she wrote, “@dreamcenteratl and @williammurphyiii are awesome! Praise God for Pastors who know how to reach this generation.”
@marketingbymonrae wrote, “I love my pastor. Let’s talk about the 5000 people that came to church on new year’s AND the 150 people that got saved.”
@stayreal302 highlighted the lyrics of ‘Swag Surf,’ which includes references to consuming alcohol and smoking. Then, he added, “Soooo how do these lyrics tie into the word of God again? It’s okay not to be perfect, but you have to own up to it, repent daily, and move on. Don’t stand ten toes on blasphemy. This ain’t it.”
@ejking21 wrote, “I live it here who says praying the Lord has to be one way or the other. I love this for the generation of church kids that was brought up falling asleep because they didn’t enjoy it. Make church, enjoyable, and a fun place to be at.”
@braidsbynechell wrote, “He had a better chance booking @dkg.kie, it’s a lot of Christian rappers who would have set the atmosphere for the Lord going into the New Year! We just have to pray for the churches and these new age preachers and teachers to repent and get in alignment and preach and teach TRUTH!!!”
@kendrell.white_ official wrote, “All these excuses everyone is making up to justify makes it very very clear that there’s no fear of God or understanding of Him. I don’t understand how we thing we can force God into our agendas and ways if doing things in HIS house. He stated clearly His ways aren’t our ways. His thoughts aren’t our thoughts and that our hearts are the most deceitful things we own.”
@lantii_ wrote, “Y’all in the comments the main reason why the younger crowd don’t be going to church. Y’all got something stuck up y’all a-s-s and it aint the word of God cause I thought y’all wasn’t suppose to judge? At least he had a CHURCH FULL he clearly doing something right and bringing them people in both young and old!”
Meanwhile, the Atlanta church seemingly clapped back at any disgruntled feedback about their celebration. On Instagram, they confirmed that 150 people “said YES to Jesus,” adding, “This is bigger than 30-second clips, followers, or clickbait.”
On Jan. 2, the church shared another IG post describing the culture of their worship place, along with photos of their NYE service.
“WE are the dReam Center Church of Atlanta. A praying church. A worshiping church. A generous church. Called to change the world’s expectation of the church…”
See the re-cap below.
