The Story Behind Christian Chart-Topper Tauren Wells and How He Met Jesus
But faith wasn't always his first priority. It turns out that street hockey – not worship, preaching, or writing – was on Wells' mind the first time he went to church.
"I remember the first time I walked into a little Pentecostal church in Battle Creek, Michigan. The carpet, chairs, and pews were green. There was a big wooden desk in the center of the stage. There was a preacher up there preaching. I don't remember what he was saying, but I remember he was mad about it," Wells said.
This was on the heels of Wells' father ruining what otherwise would have been a Sunday filled with street hockey and friends.
The end of Wells' Sunday street hockey began when his parents divorced. His father came home and announced, "'Ren, we're going to church. I said, 'Sir, we are going to church?' This did not fit into our family culture. I grew up in one of those houses where you weren't married if you weren't fighting," Wells told a Colorado congregation.
As a youngster, he believed people were having fun at a party when police cars and flashing lights showed up at the Wells' home. "All of a sudden, the fun was over and somebody was going to an adult time out," Wells recalled.
In preparation for his first visit to church, Wells accompanied his father to JCPenney, where they found a navy-blue blazer with gold buttons and khaki pants to wear.
Walking into the small church, Wells realized he and his father had the most melanin in the room, but neither was bothered by that fact. Instead, the experience was amazing.
"It actually felt like I showed up where somebody was anticipating my arrival," Wells said.
Saved by Jesus at that first worship service, Wells later went to a summer camp where he heard church music for the first time in 1996. He joined in singing from a brown hymnal with gold, embossed words "Sing Unto The Lord" on the cover.
Following the leader, Wells remembers singing, "O I want to see Him. Look upon His face. Let us sing forever of His saving grace. On the streets of glory, let me lift my voice."
"I don't know what it was about the era – maybe the depression – because every song was get me up out of here, singing 'I'll fly away, O glory. Morning when I die,'" Wells said.
At another church camp where oil, hankies and modesty clothes were part of the worship service, Wells enjoyed singing the lyrics, "I went to the enemy's camp and I took back what he stole from me," while stomping his feet to the beat.
Moving to a youth group, Wells recalls things got a little more swaggy. "You knew you were having church when the worship leader went, 'When I think about the Lord, how He saved me, how He raised me, how He filled me with the Holy Ghost, how He healed me to the uttermost,'" he said.
Wells fondly remembers all the songs from his earliest church experience including the hymns. "Isn't there something special about the songs you were singing when Jesus found you?" he said.
Today, Wells is creating music born out of a commitment to deepen the faith of his family – wife Lorna and sons Kanaan, Lawson, Banner and Navy – an intent that fills his 2025 EP Let The Church Sing.
Less than two years ago, Wells embarked on a new "Spirit-led journey from Houston to Austin" to plant the Church of Whitestone. It hosted 4,298 people in seven services on Resurrection Day this year.
Wells has good news for people who think Austin is without hope, the gospel, or a church. "God is still working. He is on the move. And He's using super-ordinary, regular people to do extraordinary, supernatural things," Wells said.
In May, Wells' first book, Joy Bomb: Unleashing Jesus's Explosive Joy for an Extraordinary Life, was a No. 1 new release and bestseller.
Inspired while reading Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Wells was arrested by the words as if he heard them for the first time. "The first word Jesus used is blessed…blessed are the poor in Spirit."
"I realized the impact of Jesus' first word in His inaugural sermon. I thought how important happiness must be to the heart of God if it's the first thing Jesus talks about," Wells told Fox News.
Invited by the pastor of Word of Life Christian Center in Lone Tree, Wells worshipped and preached at Resurrection Conference 2025.
Pastor Tim Bagwell encouraged Wells to follow the Holy Spirit in worship or preaching. "There is a move of the Holy Ghost that is absolutely impacting the younger generation. It's coming through music, ministries, churches, and anointed individuals to lead people into the presence of God," including Pastor Tauren Wells, Bagwell said.
First singing worship songs, Wells then shifted to preaching a prepared message from Psalm 137, titled "Don't Hang Up Your Harps."
"Although you were introduced to me through music, you've given me an opportunity to open the Word. You've given me confidence to preach. I'm grateful for that."
More information about Wells' music, book, and church is available HERE.
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