No twerking. No drinking. No smoking. These are the rules which guide a new Christian nightclub in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, which features an eclectic mix of Christ-loving Gen Zers who flock there to worship Christ and dance alongside like-minded people.
The nightclub, called The Cove, is the brainchild of seven young Black men devised an idea to help combat the post-pandemic decline in church attendance—especially among Black Protestant congregations.
One other goal of the club’s monthly events is to help young adults – mostly disillusioned with religion – experience Christian community outside the church walls.
According to the Associated Press (AP), another unwritten rule is that the club exclusively features Christian music.
Among the club’s founders are musicians, a social media guru, and others who wanted to bring a safe, authentic, and engaging experience to their generation.
“We ourselves experienced a pain point of not being able to find community outside of our church, not knowing what to do to have fun without feeling bad for doing stuff that’s conflicting to our values,” Eric Diggs, The Cove’s 24-year-old CEO, told AP. “There wasn’t a space to cultivate that. So, we created it ourselves out of that pain point—the loneliness, the anxiety, depression, COVID, and the long quarantine.”
Since its first pop-up event in November 2023, The Cove has held monthly events, reaching a wide variety of young adults who come from different backgrounds – They’re ethnically diverse and wear a wide variety of brands and styles.
“What surprised me the most is the diversity, honestly,” mentioned Aaron Dews, a founder of The Cove. “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.”
Each evening, participants are guided through the evening of engagement and connection—with God and with each other. Carlton Batts Jr., one of the founders and often the emcee, asks the entire group questions that divide attendees into groups and reveal the diversity represented.
“In church, people can be really cliquey,” said Batts. “So here, we give them prompts, so when we start the DJ set, people are really comfortable dancing.”
As the holy energy bubbles inside, food trucks in the parking lot await hungry clubbers and in lieu of alcohol, vendors sell sports drinks, bottled water and soda.
The feedback has been mostly positive. However, the club founders have also faced criticism on TikTok from some who say that dancing and worship don’t go together — or even see it as a sin.
Jordan Diggs says he embraces the attention, good or bad — “just the words Christian and nightclub is going to start a lot of conversation.”
Source: Graphic