Bishop William Murphy Jr. of The dReam Center Church of Atlanta is going viral for his crunk New Year’s Eve church service.
On Dec. 31, the Christian pastor and his congregation turned up in the house of the Lord to celebrate the New Year. A viral video shared by Grammy-nominated songwriter Travis Malloy on Instagram and TikTok Sunday captured Bishop Murphy and his devout followers having a blast at the dReam Center Church as a DJ thumped 2000 hip-hop bangers like “Swag Surfin'” by Fast Life Yungstaz for attendees.
Congregants embraced one another and swayed from side to side as they bounced and bopped to the hit song. As the camera panned, Bishop Murphy and a few more sanctified church members shimmied and swayed as they danced along with the hyped-up crowd.
The fun didn’t stop there.
In a video shared on YouTube by Laugh For Days, Bishop Murphy encouraged his God-fearing congregants to “Walk It Out” in the name of Jesus.
“You got to work the prophecy. This year, you got to stand up. You got to walk it out,” the Detroit native said before “Walk It Out” by Unk sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The service was a whole mood and certainly much more exciting than some of the long, boring services you were probably dragged to as a kid. But of course, Bishop Murphy and the dReam Center Church were pulled into the public court of opinion shortly after videos from the New Year’s Eve service went viral.
Users on X griped that Bishop Murphy was “disrespecting” the Lord with his hyped AF New Year’s Eve celebration.
A few netizens said they would have “walked out” if they saw attendees “Swag Surfin” in the house of God and that church was too “sacred” of a place to turn up.
“Swag surf at church is a guaranteed one-way ticket to hell,” one X user boldly penned.
Thankfully, a few people rushed in to knock some sense into the detractors. People were happy to see Bishop Murphy and his congregation having innocent fun. Some users noted that they didn’t see anyone acting out or inappropriately during the swaggy celebration. A few implored the naysayers to check their criticism at the door, especially the churchgoers known for doing a little bit of sinning in and outside their place of worship.
“Leave them folks alone & let them swag surf in church all they want,” one user penned. “Y’all be getting too bent out of shape over trivial stuff for me. “
Another person commented, “I love this church. William Murphy services are always exciting, and church people can swag and surf too.”
Bishop William Murphy Jr. talks about his viral Swag Surf moment on V-103.
On Jan. 2, Bishop Murphy appeared on V-103’s The Big Tigger Morning Show to address the backlash connected to his fun New Year’s Eve celebration. The unapologetic pastor stood on business and told listeners that he was proud of the way he and his congregants rang in the new year. According to the pastor, 150 new members joined the dReam Center Church following his festive service.
“What people aren’t talking about is 150 people got saved Sunday night…What God has done in our church, man, it’s just been amazing in terms of how we come through COVID, and so we’ve had to be very creative in how we engage culture.”
Bishop Murphy insisted the viral “Swag Surfin” moment wasn’t planned. The pastor maintained that he was using “wisdom” to connect with his congregants of all ages. The viral moment occurred right after he began teaching from Acts Chapter Three.
“It tells a story about a man who was lying from birth. A man who’s been struggling since he came into the world, but he can’t even contact with a prophetic voice. The Bible says that Peter and John grabbed him by the hand. He was in church begging, and they grabbed him by the hand and said stand up and walk. And so the Lord said, ‘Tell the church to walk it out.’ And that’s how we got there.”
According to Bishop Murphy, the fun church moment was a way to remind people to call on God and their loved ones in times of need. He reassured “all the religious folks” who were “tripping” about the fun celebration that the clean version of “Swag Surfin'” and “Walk It Out” were used during the holy service.
“I went to the Urban Dictionary. Swag surf involves a large crowd moving side to side, moving your arms downward while the whole crowd simultaneously moves in the same direction. I’m excited about the church– what God is doing through church. There was no cussing in our church,” he added. “There was nothing that desecrated the house of God. It was the people of God celebrating the goodness of God… I am excited about this new approach to Evangelism. This is not your grandmomma’s church. And let me just be clear. The dReam Center Church of Atlanta is not just for young folks. The mothers were swag surfin’ too.”
We love to see it! What did you think about Bishop Murphy’s New Year’s Eve bash?
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