This toe-tapping, hand-clapping 6-year-old girl is 'bringing joy to people in a dark world'

There ain't nothing gonna steal 6-year-old Loren Patterson's joy, but the energetic little girl is more than willing to share it.

A video of Loren dancing with abandon as she sings "Old Church Choir" alongside a couple dozen of her more stoic peers has gone viral.

The toe-tapping, hand-clapping Sunday morning performance with her church choir has been shared by hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook and viewed millions of times over, spreading Loren's joy far beyond her hometown of Dickson, said Jennifer Patterson, Loren's mom.

"I feel like that video is bringing joy to people in a dark world," Patterson said. "I'm hearing from people all over the world."

Patterson typically keeps her social media posts private, but she made the video of her daughter's Oct. 29 choir performance at First Baptist Church of Dickson public so her husband, Mike, could easily share it with family members. They were taken aback when the video hit 4,000 views. A week and a half later it had 54 million.  

"If but one person is touched and comes to know the knowledge of the saving power of Christ, then that's all that matters," Patterson said.   

Loren, who spoke on the phone to the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee on Thursday with her mom, thinks it's "cool" how many people have watched the video of her. The song's beat made her move that Sunday, but she likes "Old Church Choir" for another reason. 

"I can sing about Jesus," said Loren, who has attended church since she was 3 days old.  

In the video, Loren's shoulder-length blond hair swings as she bobs and sways to the upbeat rhythm of the song written and made famous by Christian artist Zach Williams. Out of frame, 100 plus members of the church's intergenerational choir and praise team add vocal power to the refrain.  

"I've got an Old Church Choir singing in my soul/ I've got a sweet salvation and it's beautiful/ I've got a heart overflowing 'cause I've been restored/ There ain't nothing gonna steal my joy."

Song rises on charts after Loren sings it

The song is the second single off of Williams' first solo album, Chain Breaker, and just finished a 12-week run at No. 1 on Christian radio, said Williams, who lives in Thompson Station and is with the Franklin-based Provident Label Group. When Loren's video started going viral, "Old Church Choir" shot to the top of the Christian iTunes chart.  

It was inspired by Williams' memories of being a young child attending revivals at country churches with his grandparents. Williams, who won the 2017 Dove Award for New​ ​Artist​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Year, remembers feeling in church about how Loren appeared to feel in the now viral video. 

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The response to Loren's joy in the video echos the song's first line "There's revival and it's spreading," said Williams, who spoke to the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee from the road. He plans to meet Loren in person soon. 

"It just takes one person to start something like that and that little girl caught the attention and the hearts of people all across the world, and it's just been really cool to see," Williams said. 

Patterson, who also sang in the choir during the 10:30 a.m. service, missed her daughter's live performance, but a church member captured Loren's dancing on video and shared it with her later. Patterson was not surprised by her daughter's moves. She and her husband love their daughter's "zeal for God." 

"It's 100 percent her personality. She's always singing, she makes up songs about Jesus," Patterson said. "I just felt like she was worshiping the Lord."

Showing how music connects

Steve Shepard, the church's associate pastor of worship and music, also did not realize Loren was moving to the music since his back was turned as he directed that Sunday. But he urges choir members of all ages to show how the music is connecting them to God. 

"I tell our choir if you've found the message if you found Jesus in your heart, then you need to notify your face," Shepard said. "She had just gotten baptized the first of October and so obviously she had Jesus in her heart and she was uninhibitedly with sincere joy showing that." 

The response to the video has been unexpected and startling, but Shepard gives the credit to God. 

" 'A child shall lead them' as the Bible says. I think God used that to reawaken a lot of people," Shepard said. 

Before heading off to school Thursday morning, Loren had one last message to share with the world. 

"Jesus loves them."

Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.