A new event, to be held in Crawford this weekend, aims to engage people with God in a more flexible and open setting
Upper Room Athens is providing a fresh approach to worship in Oglethorpe County this weekend.
This Friday through Sunday, Upper Room Athens will host Field of Worship, a three-day tent gathering at Doug and Carolyn Griffin’s house in Oglethorpe County, offering a glimpse of what faith looks like when lived boldly.
“We’re trying to get people to experience the reality of God,” said Doug Griffin, who co-founded, with Carolyn, the ministry.
Carolyn described the ministry’s beginning as a “Book of Acts experience” that she and Doug shared in 1979, a year marked by deep community, spiritual healing and support.
“We had healings. There was a relationship,” she said. “And it was such a beautiful thing, and we just thought that that's what church life was all about. We found out, no, that's not exactly the way it is at all.”
That experience planted a vision to cultivate a similar atmosphere in Oglethorpe County, and in 2015, the Griffins founded Upper Room Athens.
Their gatherings, which host up to 25 members, are often held in participants’ homes and prioritize worship, prayer and fellowship, with the Holy Spirit guiding the meeting’s flow, rather than an agenda.
“We truly want to bring heaven to Earth in Oglethorpe County,” Carolyn said.
The tent gathering will be designed differently.
There will be no formal preaching or offerings; instead, attendees are invited to worship, and if they choose, participate in baptism and communion, all in an effort to encounter God.
The event was made possible by the generosity of volunteers, who donated pop-up tents and supplies.
“We’d already been offered a trough by a local food store for baptism, and then a tent was provided; somebody bought and donated it,” Doug said. “Somebody said, ‘You could use our sound system,’ and then the signs were donated to us.”
The Griffins describe their approach as “faith in action.” By creating a space of openness and participation, Upper Room Athens aims for attendees to leave with the experience that inspires real-life change. Everybody is invited.
“We are hoping the people that come will see that God will come and meet with them, because he loves them so much, and that this walk here on Earth is mostly about a personal relationship with him,” Carolyn said.