A sweat-soaked sea of humanity undulates to the merciless drums. Moshers yield to the temptation to catch a wave and surf the crowd, only to be swallowed again by the flood.

"I told you not to float!" Prayer Chain vocalist Tim Taber yells from the stage, adding a threat toward the next would-be offender.

And would the fellow with the combat boots, purple hair and pierced eyebrows please quit standing on the pews? After all, this is a church.

Prayer Chain, an alternative Christian rock band that has been playing at churches, festivals and nightclubs across the country in support of its latest album, "Mercury," fed 200 rock-hungry souls last week at the Norwalk Alliance Church.

Mosh-pit communicants at the rural Huron County parish were more frenetic than those at other concerts Taber had described in a pre-show interview.

"There have been Christian concerts where there's a line to jump off the stage with security guards supervising," Taber said then. "This whole thing stemmed out of punk rock where everything was anarchy, do your own thing and be a rebel. And Christians try to copy it. It's really kind of corny. It doesn't have any of the vibe that it had when the Sex Pistols instigated it."

Vibes at the Norwalk show ran rampant. Although the band deliberately played a string of mellow introspective numbers to keep slam-dancing to a minimum, the stage divers refused to obey. So much for subliminal crowd control.

The misconception that Christian rock musicians are raking in the dough also annoys Taber. Because of Prayer Chain's minimal budget, band members conduct their own sound and lighting checks and set up the concession stand for T-shirts, CDs and souvenirs.

"Christian music won't truly be competitive with the mainstream market until artists are allowed to make art, instead of what people think Christian music should be," Taber said.

"Early on in the Christian market, you'd have to write happy songs that say, 'If you're a Christian, every day is good and you have no problems.' But we're people. We go through the same struggles.

The bonus for us is, we have Jesus to rely on and to pray to," Taber said.

Prayer Chain's music speaks to kids about real life, saying, among other things, that it is OK to doubt God sometimes. In their song, "Dig Dug," from their "Shawl" album, Taber sings:

It comes creepin'

Can you hear me?

Do you even know me?

I'm just like the rest

Need to stick my finger in your wrist.

Taber's group, like many Christian rock bands, has been criticized in conservative circles for not saying "Jesus" enough.

"This album is written from the perspective of Christian people experiencing life," he said. "It has as much validity to be sold to Christians as a song that says 'Jesus' in every sentence.'

Taber also gave his fans credit for reading between the lines.

"Most of the Bible is parables. You don't have to spell it out for people. The more you know, the deeper it sinks in," he said.

"The reward is when someone comes up and says, 'Your song affected me. Your song changed my life.'

 Interview by ALANA BARANICK 

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