Atlanta man's video of flash mob at Chick-fil-A goes viral
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - An Atlanta man's video of an a cappella flash mob at a Chick-fil-A has gone viral.
It happened at the Rivergate Chick-fil-A in Nashville, Tennessee last Saturday around lunchtime.
More than 60 male a cappella worship leaders from seven nations had gathered for a week-long conference, Worship Leader Institute, hosted by Acappella Ministries and its founder Keith Lancaster. The students attending the conference lead their churches in a cappella worship services without instrumental accompaniment.
The Worship Leader Institute conference was held at the Madison Church of Christ in Nashville. Several years ago, a tradition began for conference attendees to eat lunch together at a nearby Chick-fil-A either during the conference or before going home. That's when they started group flash mobs.
The first flash mob took place in 2016 after someone in the group had an idea to sing a song together before heading home, and the Chick-fil-A store manager has been supportive of the flash mobs ever since.
This year, the group sang Hezekiah Walker's "Every Praise" in SATB 4-part harmony.
Chris Armstead, of Atlanta, was among the a cappella worship leaders and told FOX 5's Katie Burk everyone sat around at tables and booths in the restaurant after placing their orders. Then, the singing began.
"The first group, including the leader, began the flash mob by standing up to start the song at their table, and then the other groups stood in succession at their tables/booths to join into the song at predefined times until all 60+ guys were singing the song," Armstead said.
Armstead shared a video of the performance on Facebook last weekend, and it quickly went viral with more than 8-million views and nearly 100,000 shares.
Armstead, a Children's Healthcare of Atlanta employee, said some of the Chick-fil-A staff joined in to sing as the excitement began to build at the restaurant.
"Other customers joined in to sing as well," Armstead said.
According to Armstead, the a cappella arrangement of the song was created by Mike Rogers, Ph.D., Assistants Professor of Music Theory at Abilene Christian University.
Armstead also works as a part-time Worship Minister at East Cobb Church of Christ in Marietta.
"Maybe we'll try to do some flash mobs at local Chick-fil-A locations here in Atlanta, Lol!"