ATLANTA (AP) — After Atlanta pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell stopped thinking about growing his congregation about three years ago, its attendance soared. Now, lines full of young adults snake outside Church 2819, some arriving as early as 5:30 a.m. to secure a spot for Sunday worship.
Christian rap and contemporary music blast like a block party as volunteers blast into megaphones for the roughly 6,000 weekly churchgoers — up from fewer than 200 in 2023, the church reports. Inside the sanctuary, the atmosphere turns serious. Many drawn to 2819’s engaging worship are hungry for Mitchell’s animated intensity and signature preaching: No sugarcoating the Bible.
After prayers and soulful songs leave many in tears, Mitchell walks around the stage in his all-black uniform, sometimes in quiet contemplation or in tears, before launching into a fiery sermon. His messages, unpolished and loaded with challenges to worship 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.
Weeping, shouting, storming the platform and punching the air, Mitchell preaches with all his body – and an urgency to bring people to faith before he dies or what he calls the imminent return of Jesus to Earth.
“For me it’s life or death,” Mitchell told The Associated Press, comparing preaching to the front lines of war. “There are souls hanging in the balance… I think that in that room someone might hear the gospel and that might be their last opportunity.”
The church — whose name refers to Matthew 28:19, a Bible verse that commands believers to go “and make disciples of all nations” — is non-denominational and theologically conservative, with beliefs that oppose abortion and support marriage between only one man and one woman.
The growing congregation has attracted people of many races and ages, but they are predominantly young black adults. Their youth is notable because Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 are less likely than older adults to identify as Christians or to regularly attend religious services, according to the Pew Research Center.
Sharp sermons and moving worship
Warren Bird, an expert on fast-growing churches, believes the right leader is the key to growing a church — along with God’s help — and described Mitchell as “speaking a language” that connects with young people other pastors haven’t reached.
Churches say Mitchell’s message resonates because he carefully sifts through the scriptures and speaks candidly about his spiritual transformation, including his past dealing drugs, paying for abortions and attempting suicide.
“I’m still a little rough around the edges, aren’t I? I still have a hood in me,” said Mitchell, who still speaks with a regional New York accent.
Many at 2819 want more than motivational speeches and say Mitchell’s sermons are counterweights to the American preaching he criticizes.
“I preach without watering it down, without filtering out things that we think might be too controversial,” said Mitchell, who wants people to mature spiritually and insists they can’t deal with sin and its consequences without Jesus.
“I think there’s a generation that gravitates toward that authenticity and truth,” he said. “As a result of this, we see lives being radically transformed.”
Christian podcaster Megan Ashley said she brought a friend who had strayed from her faith to 2819, and Mitchell made an impact. The friend told Ashley: “When he talks, I believe him.”
The harsher messages could hurt some people’s feelings, said Donovan Logan, 23.
“But that’s what they should do. If you don’t come to church and you want to change, then this is not the church you should go to,” Logan said.
Elijah McCord, 22, said Mitchell’s sermons on sin relate to what is happening around him in Atlanta, and Mitchell’s story shows that “there is life in what God has commanded.” He also appreciates Mitchell’s pleas to wait until marriage to have sex.
“He talks biblically about sin and repentance and how there is actually hope in the gospel,” McCord said.
Churches say the draw of 2819 beats Mitchell. It is the whole experience of worship.
Passing dancing greetings, the Sunday crowd enters the darkened hall. It is permeated with prayer and bold instrumental music before the service, which 2819 calls a gathering, officially begins, hands already raised amid shouts of praise. Boxes of tissues stand at the end of the corridors, ready to help those moved to tears.
“Worship is crazy. The Holy Spirit is there. Like a tangible presence. You feel it!” said Desirae Dominguez, 24.
Mitchell feels “ill-equipped” to lead 2819
Mitchell spent 10 years preaching, collecting fruitless notes from church growth conferences, and eventually began to struggle with depression. During that time, he took a transformative trip to Israel, where he said encounters with God and other Christians changed him. Then, in 2023, he changed the name of the church to 2819.
Mitchell, who spent three years preaching only from the Book of Matthew, said God told him to preach without bringing prepared notes to the stage. Although he attended Bible college, he sometimes doubts himself because of his past.
“I’ve shed a lot of tears because I often feel ill-equipped, undeserving,” Mitchell said. “I wouldn’t have called myself if I were God to own something like that, and sometimes I don’t know why my sermon reaches (people)… I’m still shocked.”
When I get ready to preach, “I think of the broken people in the room, the troubled marriages, the one who kills herself. I think of the young lady who struggles with crippling insecurities and doesn’t know that she has a father up there who loves her more than any man she’ll find here.”
When he’s not preaching, Mitchell’s demeanor is quieter. He and his staff are “here to serve,” he often says.
His large online platform exposes him and sometimes his family to public criticism, rejection and even threats. Some accuse him of self-righteousness or say he is too harsh. He also issued a public apology earlier this year for comments in a sermon about obeying authority that were seen as dismissive of police brutality.
At times, he says he is deeply affected by criticism and has said he repents for some of what critics have criticized. But Mitchell also finds solace in understanding Jesus better by enduring him.
Staff are constantly adapting for growth
The church recently moved into its own building after outgrowing the charter school where they held services and added a third. On the first two Sundays at the new location, they added a fourth impromptu meeting because so many people came.
Staff faced similar difficulties at Access, the church’s prayer event in October, which drew about 40,000 people. State Farm Arena was filled to capacity, as was a packed space at a nearby convention center, leaving thousands outside, the church said.
“We’re constantly fixing things,” said Tatjuana Phillips, director of 2819 Ministries.
Logistical challenges, such as full parking lots and full staffing, are common at fast-growing churches, said Bird, the church growth expert.
Despite its size, the church fosters community through its small groups, called “teams,” which give about 1,700 people a place to discuss sermons and support each other’s personal growth. Staff also interact with approximately 75,000 people weekly who watch the gatherings online.
Long tails also give friends. Ashley Grimes, 35, said there she “met so many brothers and sisters in Christ that I can now relate to.”
Many of those new friends can be found in the church hall on Sundays as volunteers, called servant leaders, pray over each seat before Mitchell preaches.
On a recent Sunday, Mitchell told the crowd that they can come back to Jesus no matter what they’ve done. It worked for him. God, he said, “used failure to transform my life.”
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This story corrects that the school where the assemblies were held was a charter school.
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Kramon is a staff member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.