Written by: Jehiely Balabarca
The lights were low at Chattanooga Hispanic Community Seventh-day Adventist Church, better known as La Comunidad. The room filled slowly. Some people slipped into seats near the back, while others made their way up front, where three chairs had been left intentionally empty, a quiet invitation for anyone ready to kneel, raise their hands or simply be still before God. There was no sermon, no children’s story and no offertory. Just music and worship
La Comunidad’s Night of Worship isn’t about filling a program. It’s about making space.
“This all started with a simple idea,” Larissa Menezes, one of the organizers of Night of Worship and senior chemistry major, said. “My brother André, who’s also the drummer at our church, just said one day, ‘Why don’t we gather and just worship?’ And that’s how it began.”
The first event happened in November 2023. Now, months later, it has become a spiritual anchor for those who attend and the students and church members who help shape it. Unlike a typical Sabbath morning, where a schedule is followed and transitions are timed, these nights offer something else entirely.
“It’s not a service,” Menezes said. “It’s worship. That’s it. That’s the focus. We even have an open space at the front so people can kneel or dance, just worship as they feel led.”
And people do.
“I’ve seen people I never expected to stand up for a final call,” Menezes said. “You can tell when the Holy Spirit is moving. You can feel it.”
Junior Reis, pianist and singer for La Communidad, agreed.
“There’s something about the consistency of the worship culture in that church, the way they take music seriously. Three languages. Harmonies. Solos. Everyone has a role,” he said. “That foundation really made the night of worship possible.”
Reis, who grew up in Brazil, shared how different this experience has felt from his past.
“In my church back home, it was beautiful, but we didn’t always feel free to express ourselves. I used to worry about how I looked on stage, if people were judging,” he said. “But here, through this, I’ve learned to just sing. To worship. Not to perform.”
The difference, he said, came through intentional community and time. For their most recent event, the team rehearsed for nearly two months.
“Every week we’d meet with singers and instrumentalists separately. Then the last week, we’d all come together,” Reis said. “And André always reminded us: ‘Let your heart out. Show God’s character.’”
Rather than center each event on a single theme, the team allows songs to shape the message.
“Each song we chose carried its own story, about God’s timing, about surrender, about how He makes a way,” Menezes said. “We shared short reflections before each one, tying in Scripture, just letting the Spirit guide.”
While the songs vary, the heart remains the same: worship as a response to who God is.
“We want people to know that worship isn’t just music,” Menezes said. “It’s obedience. It’s a lifestyle.”
She referenced a favorite song, “Let My Life Be Worship” by Jenn Johnson.
“That song really captures it,” she said. “Letting every part of our lives reflect who He is.”
As La Communidad has grown, so has its vision. Their bilingual, multicultural services reflect the diversity of the congregation and the kingdom.
“We’ve done songs in Portuguese, Spanish, English — sometimes we even translate them ourselves,” Reis said. “It’s beautiful to hear so many languages lifting up the same God.”
And it’s not just about languages — it’s about belonging.
“We want someone who walks in, not knowing what to expect, to feel safe,” Menezes said. “To feel seen. To feel joy. And most of all, to see Christ in us.”
With both Menezes siblings graduating soon, the future of the event is uncertain, but hopeful.
“We’re already looking for people to take our place,” Larissa said. “We believe in passing it on. And if God wants it to continue, it will.”
