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Sing, Hug, Jump, Laugh, Pray, and Scream for the Lord (19 photos)

Ben Helton discovered the Messiah Miracle Worship Center by accident. The photographer was out to lunch with his family in Senoia, Georgia, when they heard a loud beat seeping through a building nearby. “We sat on a bench right outside the door just listening,” he said. His kids, as curious as he, opened the door’s mail slot to hear it louder. What was happening inside? The question stuck with him until he finally reached the church’s pastor and asked to take some photos.

The space, with its wood paneling, fluorescent lighting and lack of windows, more resembled a waiting room than a house of god. “As a kid who grew up as a sometimes Methodist in the South, this service was completely foreign to me,” he said of the roughly 30-person congregation. “No holds barred, they are there to connect, refresh, repent, worship, and love one another.”  He took 400 photographs during his first visit, afraid he would not be invited back. Luckily, he was.