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Dec 9, 2025
Young adults are waiting in line to worship at this fast-growing Atlanta church
KPRC
ATLANTA - After Atlanta pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell stopped dwelling on growing his congregation about three years ago, its attendance surged. Now, lines packed with young adults snake outside 2819 Church, some arriving as early as 5:30 a.m. to secure a spot for Sunday worship.
Christian rap blasts like a block party as volunteers cheer into megaphones for around 6,000 weekly churchgoers -- up from less than 200 in 2023, the church reports. Inside the sanctuary, the atmosphere turns serious. Many drawn to 2819's riveting worship are hungry for Mitchell's animated intensity and signature preaching: No sugarcoating the Bible.
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After spirited prayers and songs leave many crying, Mitchell ambles onstage in his all-black uniform, sometimes in quiet contemplation or tears, before launching into a fiery sermon. His messages, unpolished and laden with challenges to revere God and live better, often spread quickly online. A recent prayer event drew far more people than State Farm Arena could handle, with many flying in.
Crying, shouting, storming across the platform and punching the air, Mitchell preaches with his whole body -- and an urgency to bring people to faith before they die or what he calls Jesus' impending return to Earth.
"It is life or death for me," Mitchell told The Associated Press, comparing preaching to the front lines of war. "There are souls that are hanging in the balance. ... I think about the fact that in that room somebody might hear the Gospel, and that might be their last opportunity."
The church -- whose name references Matthew 28:19, a Bible verse commanding believers to go "make disciples of all the nations" -- is nondenominational and theologically conservative, with beliefs opposing abortion and in support of marriage only between a man and a woman.
The congregation's growth has attracted people of many races and ages, but it's predominantly young Black adults. Their youth is notable since Americans ages 18 to 24 are
