basement , and it was the warmest , most friendly environment I had been in a really long time . And immediately , it just felt safe , and it felt authentic . It felt like these people are really just honest and pure-hearted , and they love people , and they obviously love Jesus . And before I knew it , Henry Sealy started playing the piano and leading us in worship . And Alex preached just a short message , but the presence of God was so tangible in that place . It felt like a water faucet had been turned on in what was a really dry , parched place in my life that I hadn ’ t even recognized . I mean , I had been in ministry for over a decade ; I didn ’ t realize I had poured out to the point of emptiness , and I didn ’ t know how to refill .
And I personally just became stagnant and lost the understanding of being in the presence of God and how that can fill you . And they created a space where it was just really easy . I remember when my husband and I got in the car , and we didn ’ t know what to say to each other . It was just like , “ This was incredible .” But very quickly , we realized we were going to keep going , and we just never stopped going . And here we are 10 years later , and the same thing that we felt in the basement that night has remained true . Every single time we ’ ve set foot in a gathering , it doesn ’ t matter the building , it doesn ’ t matter the number of people . It ’ s just been the purity of their hearts as pastors and the purity of their intention to just meet with Jesus that has been the heartbeat of our church .
I think people who come , if they ’ re willing to stay and if they ’ re hungry for their own encounter with God , can really experience that for themselves . You end up staying not because of Alex and Henry , or the worship , or the million other things that we have that are incredible ... The creative team , the kids ... you stay because of this posture that everyone is crying out to just be in the presence of God . To be able to meet with him . That is what has kept me and my family there , and I ’ m sure that ’ s the story for many other people .
[ WM ] Wow . Great answer .
[ Andrew ] My story is very similar to Hope ’ s . I actually started coming two or three weeks after they left Pastor Henry and Alex ’ s basement . We probably would ’ ve gone in the basement , but I didn ’ t want to show up at someone ’ s random house . ( laughing ) Similar to Hope , we had a couple friends who were going in their basement , and my wife and I were just dating at the time , and we were really drawn to it and wanted to be a part of it . And so as soon as they left and started officially at a church , it was February of 2014 , and we came to this little venue in South Nashville . It ’ s called The Foundry . And it ’ s so funny the way Hope described her first experience ; it was exactly the same as mine . That ’ s literally how I describe it ; it was like someone turned on a faucet of living water and just dumped it on me .
I ’ m the same story ; I grew up leading worship in
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