A Christian nightclub has opened in Nashville, Tennessee. The rules include no alcohol, no cigarettes, no non-Christian music and lots of praise and worship.
The 18-and-up pop-up club called The Cove is the brainchild of seven Black Christian men in their twenties who sought to build a thriving community and a welcoming space for young adults outside houses of worship. “My dream for The Cove is to be an inspiration for revival. I believe that revival starts in yourself personally, and then from there, it spreads. So I want this to spread like a wildfire,” said co-founder Eric Diggs.
The founders also launched the nightclub because church attendance has been dwindling since the pandemic especially among Black Protestants. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, the number of Black Protestants who say they attend services at least once a month has fallen from 61% in 2019 to 46% now.
“We ourselves experienced the pain point of not being able to find community outside of our church, not knowing what to do to have fun without feeling like bad for doing stuff that’s conflicting to our values. There wasn’t a space to cultivate that. And so we created ourselves out of that pain point, you know, the loneliness, the anxiety, depression,” Mr. Diggs explained to The Associated Press (AP).
When they first launched on social media, they expected to attract about a thousand followers. They got ten times as many. The first activity on opening night was prayer and praise. The club now holds an event once a month and continues to grow its patronage.
“Christians get a rep for being corny. We want to show that Christians can be normal, can be cool. And they can have fun,” declared social media manager Jordan Diggs.
“What surprised me the most is the diversity, honestly. With us being seven Black guys, just seeing the expansion of the type of people that we can bring in, and the unification around one idea has been incredibly encouraging,” observed co-founder Aaron Dews.
One couple traveled all the way from Brisbane to attend last month’s event. “We thought, this is cool. It’s God-glorifying,” said 23-year-old Haynza Posala. “It’s surreal. It’s a community and that’s what church is about,” added his wife Kim.
Despite criticism by some who say that dancing and worship don’t go together, the club-like atmosphere often turns into a revival of sorts. “People have their hands lifted up. People crying and weeping and other people praying for each other. It really shows that there’s something different happening,” another co-founder Shem Rivera told AP.
He added: “It’s not just about a nightclub. It’s not just The Cove nightclub. This is bigger than that.” The club founders hope to go on a nationwide and global tour to inspire the creation of other dance and worship clubs for young people of faith across the world.
Photo: Facebook – Shem Rivera
