Summer is finally here and it's time to celebrate — celebrate not only the end of the spring semester, not only the opening of swimming pools, not only the brief moment of freedom before the coming fall semester (that is unless you're doing an internship, working or taking summer classes). It's time to celebrate the love of our Father by spending our summer at Passion City Church's Summer In the City. Here are just a few of the reasons why you should make SITC your Wednesday night plans this summer!
1. The Environment
Passion City created SITC to be a safe space for young adults and college students to come worship and celebrate the King together. Upon arrival at the church (or the parking deck), you're instantly greeted with open arms, smiling faces and people who are hungry for more and more of God. The people you've never met in your life quickly become people who will sit and pray with you, stand and sing with you and bask in the presence of our Lord with you.
2. The Worship
There is no wrong way to sing praises to our Savior, but let me tell ya — Passion City knows how to do it the right way. The church's in-house worship team is remarkable in itself (considering the team includes the amazing vocals of people like Kristian Stanfill and Melodie Malone), but they have guest artists come every now and then to lead worship. There's nothing like a free, emotional concert featuring artists like David Crowder or All Sons and Daughters, right?
3. The Message
As if the worship itself doesn't move you enough, each week's message seem to get more and more convicting than the week before. You'll find yourself scribbling notes in your journal faster than you ever have during the final review in your hardest class. Passion City doesn't stop at switching up the worship every week — it brings in guest speakers to share God's word with us each week. Some of those speakers include the church's head pastor, Louis Giglio, and the amazing Trip Lee.
4. The Community
As I mentioned, SITC is a safe space of worship for young adults. In order to create that safe space among the 18 to 25-year-olds, Passion City has pre-worship ice breakers and post-gathering "hangouts." Whether you find love (I'm looking at you, Tad) or just make a new friend to sit with the next week, Passion City wants to build a community out of the congregation. Church isn't meant to be a place; church is the body of Christ, made up by the people.
5. The Snacks
Those post-gathering "hangouts" I mentioned don't let you leave hungry. Instead, they send you off for the week with yummy snacks like cookies and milk, watermelon, pigs-in-a-blanket and even Lunchables (if you're lucky enough to snag one before they're gone). I know food isn't the end-all-be-all, but it sure is nice to wrap up a night of hardcore worship with some strawberry milk and chocolate-chip cookies.
6. The Commute
People come from all over Georgia and the surrounding states. Let me clarify: people from more than just the Atlanta-area battle rush hour traffic to worship the Lord. There are few things that make braving Atlanta traffic worthwhile, but this is most definitely one of those things. Not to mention, the drive home gives you the pleasure of empty roads and lots of quiet time. This allows you to have a period of reflection and prayer or a discussion with the people you came with, and it really helps the events/message of the night sink in.
7. The Anticipation
I don't know about you, but I look forward to driving two hours to Passion City every Wednesday night more than I look forward to eating a stuffed-crust pizza from Pizza Hut on my fat days.
To receive updates and keep tabs on SITC, follow along on the website, the Instagram, the Twitter or text pccCollege to 99000. Make sure you mark your calendars for the next four gatherings – June 15 and 29 and July 6 and 13 at 7:30 p.m.!
