AP
Fast Growing Church
Brandi Porter, left, and Kennedy Onley, right, engage in a call and response with churchgoers as they wait in line on Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta.
As featured on
An Atlanta church with a viral pastor has grown from less than 200 weekly churchgoers in 2023 to about 6,000 today. Before service, Christian rap blasts and volunteers chant into megaphones as lines snake outside. Many of those who line up as early as 5:30 a.m. are young people hungry for 2819 Church's riveting worship and Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell's intensity. He doesn't sugarcoat the Bible, and urges people to revere God and lean on Jesus to escape sin's consequences. 2819's growth has attracted people of many races and ages, but it’s predominantly young Black adults.
