Thousands attend local church service, called Cross 'n Dagger

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Life Bridge Church held its Cross 'n Dagger service Sunday.  The event was designed to welcome in people who may not typically attend a Sunday morning service.  It was the fifth year the church held the event.

The Fort Wayne church had more than three thousand people attend the event.

"The idea was a lot of people who don't go to church because they think the church is out of touch with the real world and doesn't care about the things they enjoy," Bill Campbell, the senior pastor at Life Bridge Church, said.

During Cross 'n Dagger, the stage was filled with musicians and motorcycles.

"We thought it would be great to have a day for motorcycle people, who like cars," Campbell said.

The day included a motorcycle and car show outside.  Along with a games and rides for kids.

"A lot of people who normally wouldn't go to church, but they can come in their leathers if they're a biker," Campbell said.  "They can come wearing a t-shirt and jeans or shorts.  However they're dressed, they're welcomed."

Inside the sanctuary, the church used music to bring in a new crowd.  One band that performed was Love and Death.  The Christian metal rock band's lead singer is Brian "Head" Welch, a former guitarist with the heavy metal rock group Korn.

Welch left Korn in 2005 to pursue a career in Christian music.

"God is real, and he is doing a new thing on Earth," Welch said.  "He's saving people like us so we can reach people like us.

"I laughed at it before I was a Christian, but once you get there and God touches your heart, it's totally a real thing."

Welch sang at Cross 'n Dagger in 2011.  He said he liked coming back because of the service's unique atmosphere.

"It's a church, but it's radical," he said.  "They've got Harleys, they got wild people, and it's just out of the box.  Not many church has invited us to come Sunday morning and rock the house."

Welch's band received a large applause before its performance.  The crowd was made up of all ages, and people from different walks of life.

"There's two roads in life," Welch said.  "You can either get lost in the world in drugs and separation of God, or you can get lost in religion.  There's a spiritual road that doesn't judge and it's all love.  I don't want to fall down that trap to judge the religious people who judge me.  I think I'm being used by God to bridge that gap."

"Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners,"  Campbell said.  "I think we've gotten an idea that it's some kind of holy room in the church.  And the truth is, God created us to be his people, and the church is just where we meet."