When people huddle in the hallway to pray during a rock concert, you know something s different.
As heavy metal and rap boomed from the arena at the USA Mitchell Center, local volunteers offered to pray with fans walking the halls Thursday at , the contemporary Christian music concert that comes to Mobile each January. Many youth agreed, or took devotional booklets containing the Book of John.
Lauren Gentry, center, of Teen Challenge in Poplarville, Miss., prays with youth leaders and pastors at Winter Jam on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. (Carol McPhail/cmcphail@al.com)Winter Jam, almost two decades old, merges high-end music with heartfelt worship. On Thursday, it was four shows into its 47-city tour. It s real simple, says Eddie Carswell of tour founder It s God s tour.
Where else could you find meeting before the show with local youth pastors to pray and offer encouraging words?
We throw out seeds on stage. Y all have to water them, plant, them keep them in the sun, cultivate them and help them to grow, said Lecrae, one of the tour s headliners. Hold on, hang on; work with them.
Lecrae said he was one of those teenagers, raised by his mother, who relied on the body of Christ at church to nurture him. He challenged the group to picture the kid sitting in the back of the bus, with headphones on.
That was me, Lecrae said.
The group also heard from NewSong, Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North, , evangelist Nick Hall and Holt International, which helps children overseas find adoptive parents.
Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North, which has won multiple GMA Dove Awards, asked the youth leaders to pray for him and the other artists for humility. I d like you guys to pray for us that God would guard us against arrogance and pride, Donehey said.
The pastors then gathered in groups of three or four to pray aloud.
Earlier, waiting in line at the south entrance, Doug Practor of Silverhill described the different feel of the audience at Winter Jam: You don t hear arguing, bickering, pushing and shoving, he said.
For me, when I come to these concerts, it s the worshiping. It s like a big worship service, he said.
Winter Jam's second stop in Alabama will be Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014, at the