COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Christian club Counter Culture is celebrating its first anniversary on Saturday with a nightclub and worship event.
Targeted towards young adults ages 18-35, this will be the eighth event from Counter Culture that aims to “cultivate a safe environment of freedom in God in a new and fun way.”
In addition to their alcohol-free Christian club pop-up nightclubs, Counter Culture has also held game night events.
“Counter Culture was created to fill a social void in Christian spaces,” explained Camille Victor, one of the group’s co-founders. “This is a place where you can worship God as well as finding your people.”
For the anniversary event, the group plans to offer even more experiences.
“It’s going to be big. We’ve pulled out all the stops for this,” said Shawanda Don, Counter Culture’s other cofounder. “We’ll have live performances [and] we’re actually going to have, for the very first time, a live dance class. There’ll be, like, 20 minutes of hip hop [and] 20 minutes of Latin.”
Don reassured that people do not have to identify as Christian to attend the group’s events.
“There’s a lot of people who also… are just not necessarily comfortable stepping foot in a church,” said Victor. “Even if they’re not religious, this should still be a place where they feel comfortable to come.”
Victor pointed out that the events are ideal for anyone who is looking for an activity held in a sober space.
“We’ve had someone come who said, like, this is the first club they’ve ever been to where they’ve been sober,” said Victor. “Seeing them be able to still have fun in this space is really exciting to see.”
“It’s important to meet people where they are,” Don added. “To just [let] people know that we accept you and you are OK here being yourself”.
Counter Culture’s nightclub events feature Christian hip-hop and R&B artists from all across central Ohio and neighboring states.
“Ultimately success is bringing people to Christ,” said Don. “We want to reach those people that have never heard of Christ before and we want to reach them in such a way where it’s unconventional.”
Counter Culture’s “The White Out Christian Club and Worship Night” starts Saturday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. at 300 East Long St. in downtown Columbus. For more information, click here.