Seattle was Rocking for Jesus in the 80's and early 90s with the first ever Christian Dances, the Dance of Joy. Those who went later formed a group called the RFJ, Radicals for Jesus.

I was there with David Wheeler, the founder of the Dance of Joy when we picked out the first venue. Here's the history of the RFJ from Dave Wheeler's MySpace Blog:

Dance of Joy & RFJ Ministries
Current mood: jubilant

I believe I am the first person to start a Christian Dance Club in the world perhaps.

Here's my personal story on how it all started. Coming from a Christian background, my Dad was a black Gospel music concert promoter and he also managed many Gospel groups. He used to own his own sound system and would promote and run the sound for many gospel groups and choirs in the Pacific NW, this took place in the 70's. Years later when I recommitted my life my junior year in high school in 1981, I was introduced to Christian Rock music. And I would attend almost every Christian concert that came to Seattle. My Christian friends and I also loved to go dancing, but we didn't like the atmosphere at the secular clubs in Seattle. In the early 80's Christian music started to take off and a lot of the Christian artist started releasing Christian Dance music. ie... Steve Taylor, Kim Boyce, Imperials etc.. So I thought to myself why doesn't somebody start a Christian Dance club, that would be so awesome! So I prayed about it and headed God's calling into ministry. As I searched through the bible on what it had to say about dancing, I then came up with the name "The Dance of Joy" which I found to be fitting for the dances. And my dad came up with DW Productions, initialed after my name as the sole promoter of the dances. My brother Wes being a artist designed the flyers and we passed out about a thousand flyers after the Steve Taylor/Sheila Walsh concert in Seattle in fall time of 1984. The first dance was at the Firdale Village Auditorium in Edmonds/North Seattle on Saturday November 3rd, 1984. With the flyers passed out, word of mouth and free spots on the radio KCMS - (Christian Music Station) now SPIRIT 105, we had a crowd of 175 people in attendance at the first dance. Which packed out the place. Thus, the first Christian dance was a big success. In January of 1985 the Dance of Joy moved to a bigger and better location the VFW hall in Bellevue, WA. Which proved to be a success. We even had such groups come out to the dances to either perform, speak or sign autographs such as The Alter Boys, Common Ground, Darryl Mansfield band, WhiteHeart, Georgian Banov of Silverwind and some local Christian artist. In 1986 as MTV influenced the Christian music industry to release Christian music videos I then decided to purchase a big screen video system so that everybody could get a visual experience of the Christian music artist and the message in video form on a 7' screen. And during those years I expanded the sound system so that there would be speakers on all four corners of the dance floor to give it a more club experience and I rented a lighting system from Seattle Lighting staffed with a light controller person while at the VFW hall. The dances were held every other Saturday for the two years we were there. In February of 1987 as the Dance of Joy started to mature I then decided to put a age limit of 17 & over and move into a new location The American Legion Hall in Bothell, WA. Which was a little smaller, yet a lot nicer looking on the inside and it resembled a club more. I also purchased my own professional lighting system which was much more sophisticated and the members of my church ran the concession stand serving non-alcoholic mixed drinks, nachos, candy and more. With all the radio advertising on KCMS and all the changes the dances became a greater success. The Dance of Joy continued to have Christian dances at the American Legion Hall till December of 1988. The dances were a lot of fun to go to, and was a place where you can meet other Christian singles with a Christ centered atmosphere. We would always have a half time which entailed a guest speaker such as a pastor which would always give a great inspirational short message concluding with an alter call and a few songs of praise and worship. I could not of done any of this without the Lord and the support of my family, friends and church. Special gratitude goes to my parents who helped me out with each and every dance. I stopped doing the dances for about a year due to school in December of 1988.

In the latter 80's some of my best friends from Eastside Foursquare Church in Kirkland, WA formed RFJ Ministries and put on a few dances which was a big success. However RFJ Ministries was in need of equipment and an experienced DJ, which is where I came into the picture. My best friend Mike Washburn who served as President of RFJ Ministries (Radical For Jesus Ministries) and I were room mates and at that time neither of us were putting on dances. So we decided to merge our ministries together "RFJ Ministries and DW Productions the Dance of Joy" which was a great move being that I owned all the professional sound, lighting and big screen video equipment and they were stronger in marketing and business. With our combined talents, gifts and resources we would put on the biggest and best Christian dances anywhere. So on January 19th, 1990 RFJ Ministries presented our first Christian dance since the merge, newly named "The Alternative" Your Christian Music Dance Club located at the Juanita Community Club in Kirkland which we soon outgrew. "The Alternative" dances were held once a month. We advertised through our combined mailing list, word of mouth, radio advertisements etc.. In November of 1990, we then moved to the Washington Dance Club in Seattle which seemed to be the perfect place and location. It was big and fancy with all the right amenities and the location was central drawing people from all directions. August of 1990 we advertised through our mailer discounts to everybody who donated two cans of non perishable food which was given to Northwest Food Bank for the needy. RFJ Ministries expanded our outreach focus and on September 8th of 1990, and started to put on beach volleyball/barbeque/bonfires during the summers at Golden Gardens State Park in Seattle as an outreach ministry which was very successful. It included beach volleyball, free barbeque food, and at night we would build a huge bonfire and sing praise and worship songs, share testimonies, and share from God's word followed by an alter call. The barbeque/bonfires were supported by donations. We also put on annual Labor Day weekend retreats since 1992 which have been an awesome funfilled experience by all those who participated. The retreats have been a great time to get more in depth with our walk with God and in building a more intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, and building strong bonds with fellow beleivers. The retreats included water skiing, volleyball, swimming and other fun filled activities and fellowship. In January of 1994 RFJ Ministries became a non-profit organization.

On a personal note I got married on July 7th, 1990 and had two kids which in July of 1991 I decided to resign from RFJ Ministries and dedicated myself to my family and church more. I then sold all my equipment to a hotel in Bellevue, WA. In April of 1995 I rejoined RFJ Ministries as a volunteer staff. And in February of 1996 I was voted in as a member of the board of directors once again and I faithfully served in RFJ Ministries till the ministry folded. RFJ's last Christian dance was New Years Eve of the year 2000/2001.

The purpose of the dances was to provide an alternative source of entertainment for Christian singles ages 18 & over to what the world had to offer. Christians from all different denominations of faith and walks of life united together as one in good clean fun, fellowship, and entertainment with a strong emphases in evangelism. We provided a non-alcoholic, drug free, smoke free, moral environment in a Christ centered atmosphere. We played the hottest hits in Christian dance music such as dc Talk, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, Crystal Lewis, Steve Taylor, World Wide Message Tribe, Kirk Franklin etc.. At half time we would have a speaker give an short inspirational message in building up and edifying fellow believers followed by an alter call and prayer. We also used this time for special announcements and the half time usually last about 20 minutes. RFJ will sometimes have special guest Christian NW artist, bands or comedians perform live sets for a portion of the dance. The dance we had at the Washington Dance Club, was a Christian Rave Dance with special guest DJ Scott Blackwell of n~Soul Records, which happened to be one of our biggest dances of all time.

If you attended the Dance of Joy or RFJ dances, say Hi!