"Y'all Go to the Ramp?!"

I had told my friend John-Henry that I would go to church with him to a place called the Ramp Church, or the Ramp. I had heard some things about this church, that it was charismatic, dominantly African-American, and different. Once I heard that it was a dominantly black church, I began to grow excited because I've always wanted to visit a black church. It just seemed so interesting. Well... it was.

It's Sunday morning, and John-Henry, Jon, and Derek, get into my wagon, and we make our little trip to the Ramp. The building looks like a large, restored garage with rooms. Sorry if it made the church sound run-down; it was actually very nice inside, and we were welcomed so nicely. Everyone knew John-Henry.

The sanctuary had way more people than I thought it would. We took a seat in the back, probably because we were unfamiliar with this church, or maybe because no other seats were visible. John-Henry leaned over to me and said that he usually sits in the front with the ministers, then he proceeds to tell me that he, himself, is a minister. I was impressed, considering his young age.

A woman took the stage and was backed by a trio. We began to sing praises to the Lord; sadly, I did not know the opening song, but I did know the second one, “From the Inside Out.” It was jazzed up by the band to sound more like gospel, and we sang the same stanza repeatedly, "In my heart and my soul / I give you control / Consume me from the inside out, Lord." Over and over again. I was singing, but I kinda brought my voice down to a lip-sync because my mouth was getting tired. Then... THEN the women says:

"Sing it to the Lord this morning. If you don't mean it, don't sing it."

I did mean the words that I was mouthing, but I didn't wanna sing the words out loud. I thought that if I didn't, people would think that I was a heathen, that I would stick out. I felt like people were piercing me with their eyes even though I knew they weren't even looking at me. Needless to say, that made me a smidgen uncomfortable. I get a tap on my shoulder from John-Henry.

He said, "I'll be right back." Then he left.

We finished worship and some announcements were made which took some time. Roughly 10 minutes rolls around and he's still not back. I thought he may have gotten sick in the restroom or something, then Jon, next to me on the other side, says,

"Where the heck is John-Henry?"

Before I turned my head to search for him, a dark skinned, young man walks up in front of the congregation and grabs a microphone.

"How ya'll feeling this morning?!" he asked. "Let me hear it if the Lord is blessin' ya!"

Oh my goodness, it was John-Henry. Music began to play, and JH danced and sang. I thought it was such perfect timing when Jon asked that question. I laughed, to myself, at the comical situation. He came and sat back down after he finished his performance, and I whispered to him, telling him how good he was and stuff like that.

Then the tithe. The pastor gets up on stage and tells us to lift our tithe high up in the air; he says,

"Repeat after me... 'I have because I give, and I give because I have; therefore, I will never be broke another day in my life.'" I thought to myself, “How that could be true.” I know that God will bless us if we give, but that doesn't mean that you can't be broke. It might be in the Lord's plan, but anyway, just a thought I had at this time.

Afterward was spent singing, "Thank you, Jesus!" in repetition for a solid 5 minutes, dancing and whatnot. I thought this was strange, for dancing surely doesn't comply with the Liberty Way! We took our seats for the offering. A young girl, who WAS the dance ministry, danced an interpretive dance of sorts. A lady stood up on the opposite side and watched. I don't know who she was, but I think she may have been the little girl's mother because she seemed to have to dance down-pat as well. She would mouth some words here and there and make a fist as if saying, "Yes!"

The young girl did a wonderful job.

Now the preaching, the part I've been waiting for. He got up and opened his sermon with, "Brother, you have more blessings than you have problems." He continued the sermon, and he became passionate, running across the stage and doing some improv gospel preaching, while the band played along. There's no way I could convey how he did it, but I would gladly show you if you asked. People were jumping and shouting "hallelujahs", and the pastor jumped into the aisle and stood on a chair, waving the Bible in the air yelling Scriptures just like in the movies.

At the end, he told us to stomp on our problems. The band played, and people stomped and danced screaming, "Glory!!" We went back into a time of praise, and we were supposed to grab our neighbor's hand. John-Henry and I joined hands, and I knew that we were going to dance again.

I said, "I ask one thing. Please don't bring me out into the aisle." Have you seen me dance? Praise the Lord you haven't, and if you have... bless you.

"Brotha, don't worry. If I'm gonna go out into the aisle, I'll let you go." The music played and John-Henry let out an, "Oh, Lord!" He immediately let me go and got down in the aisle.

We left right after that. I had a great time at the Ramp to say the least; I mean, I wasn't bored and the preaching was really good, full of Scripture. The people were just more charismatic than I'm used to, and that's ok. I think that everyone should at least visit the Ramp once because it's an experience.

Note:
The Ramp is a real church, and I did actually attend. This is a general overview of my visit.