Jesus Culture’s Chris Quilala hopes for transformative experience at Outcry

When they walk on stage, the members of Jesus Culture themselves aren’t entirely sure in what direction the show will go.

Sure, they write out a set list before they perform, but that might go by the wayside if they hear God say something in particular about the city in which they’re performing.

“Even if we have a planned set, we’re all looking for that point where we can get off the map and explore a spontaneous moment or a prophetic song,” singer/guitarist/worship leader Chris Quilala said.

Though the up-in-the-air nature of their show can be frustrating for the lighting and sound technicians, it makes each show feel more special for the group, which will perform as part of the Outcry Tour on Friday at the INB Performing Arts Center.

Quilala has been involved in Jesus Culture since 1999 when he and his fellow worship leaders were playing cover songs during youth group at Bethel Church in Redding, California, but he’s been performing since he traded soccer for drum lessons when he was 12.

“As my friend would say, I have the body of a poet, not an athlete so it was a better fit,” Quilala said.

Soon after, he picked up his mother’s old guitar and began teaching himself to play.

Quilala would perform wherever he could, including small group settings, street outreach programs and even singles ministries, and he had a few opportunities to join non-worship bands, but he never felt passionate about the music.

“I just always knew that I wanted to serve God in that way, whether that was in a local church or doing what I’m doing with Jesus Culture, which is now both, traveling and also locally,” he said. “I was just trying to be faithful anywhere I could growing up.”

That included those youth group sessions at Bethel Church.

After feeling like they were encountering God during worship with cover songs, Jesus Culture – Quilala and singer Kim Walker-Smith are the core members, but they’re often joined by fellow worship leaders and musicians including Derek Johnson and Bryan and Katie Torwalt – decided to put on a conference to share its message and music.

It was a very DIY affair, with frequent runs to Home Depot for parts to make stage lights, but it ignited something in the band and the community, and the conferences became annual events.

“For whatever reason, the Lord was really breathing on it so we just kept being faithful with that,” Quilala said.

For years, Jesus Culture recorded live albums at these conferences. The group’s ninth album, 2016’s “Let It Echo,” and “Love Has A Name,” which will be released Friday, however, were recorded at Jesus Culture Sacramento, the church the group planted in 2013.

“It feels like these songs come from our local community and what God’s doing in our church,” Quilala said. “It’s such a privilege to be able to share those with the world.”

Now on its fourth leg of the Outcry tour, Jesus Culture has shared its music locally and abroad via conferences and tours.

Quilala hopes that those who attend Outcry, no matter the movement or ministry they belong to, see the event as more than just one night of worship, but as something transformative, a transformation they can then share with their families, schools, cities and churches to spread the Jesus Culture message even further.

“I think it’s really strategic when we come together as one body, as one church and we lift up one name,” he said. “It’s a really powerful night. Our prayer is that it wouldn’t just be a concert to people but they would have a life-changing encounter with God.”