FEATURES
WHERE HIP-HOP MEETS RELIGION
CHARLOTTE, NC - In a bid to reach the youth,
a North Carolina pastor has come up with an
innovative idea: a hip hop church.
On Saturday night May 31, Pastor Quinn
Rodgers of GeneratiONE Church declared the
doors of his church in Huntersville, N.C. – a
“Most people said that this was the most
liberating worship experience they had ever
had. It is not a confining worship experience
and people were able to express how they
feel about Christ without limits. This is the
culture of hip hop. Hip hop is a very expressive
art form; therefore, our worship is very
expressive,” said Brandi Williams, public
relations director for the church.
a large screen flashes techno-designs keeps
Those that want to attend future GeneratiONE
worships can do so every Saturday evening
at 5 p.m. The church is currently housed
on the campus of Lake Forrest Church in
Huntersville, inside a building called “The
Box.” GeneratiONE Church is not your typical
Sunday morning worship experience. Weekly
services start with a 5 p.m. “happy hour” that
is alcohol-free but with plenty of networking
and gospel hip-hop. Attire is casual, and more
than a few worshipers come in shorts and
sneakers.
Charlotte suburb, open to the public.
“We’re trying to reach the un-churched, the
de-churched, the folks who have given up
on church and are looking for something
different,” Rodgers said.
Those that are used to hearing and singing to
traditional hymns will have to be moved by
a different tune as they will be invited to the
works of a DJ scratching hip-hop beats.
GeneratiONE is a friendly, informal church.
Worshipers are greeted by a small army of
young people, all dressed in t-shirts bearing
the church’s logo. As worshipers depart, the
young greeters spread out along the driveway,
carrying signs inviting visitors back.
The music ranges from smooth jazz (during
happy hour) to rap and spoken word during
the worship service. All the music (some
performed by a live choir) carries an
inspirational message. Above the stage/pulpit,
pace to the beat.
Those accustomed to a traditional worship
experience might be shocked to hear a
preacher begin his message by leading
worshipers in a call-and-response rap routine.
(“When I say ‘holy’ you say ‘spirit’...‘holy’...
‘spirit’ ... ‘holy’... ‘spirit’… Now just wave your
hands in the air…”)
Untraditional though it may be, the message
was the same Gospel preached in Christian
pulpits all over – new life though Christ.
In addition to GeneratiONE Church, Rodgers is
also pastor of Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist
Church in Huntersville, which has about 125
members. He also served on staff at The Park
Church and at one point attended Ebenezer
Baptist Church on Sugar Creek Road in
Charlotte.
Needless to say, while the beat might be
different, the message still remains the same.
Rodgers said, “We’ve taken the hip-hop
culture and we’ve extracted all the negative
connotations out of it and we’ve deposited solid
Christian doctrine in there.”
Willis Hickerson, 82 years old, was
undoubtedly the oldest person in attendance.
A former preacher himself, he sat reading
his Bible during happy hour. He said he has
known Pastor Rogers for years, going back to
the days when they attended conventions and
conferences together.
GeneratiONE aims to reach out to the young.
A Pew Research study shows that in the US,
people between the ages of 18 and 29 are
considerably less religious than those in any
other age group.
The church looks like it has gotten off on the
right start as some of the 200 parishioners
who attended GeneratiONE’s first worship on
May 31 said that although they had at first been
skeptical when they came to the church, they
left feeling “refreshed”.
20
GeneratiONE’s first worship on May 31 Rodgers
talked extensively about Biggie Smalls and his
“Life After Death” album, which he later tied
to his text for the day, which was taken from
Romans 6, starting at verse 6. (“For we know
that our old self was crucified with him so that
the body ruled by sin might be done away with,
that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”)
“I’m interested in younger people,” he said.
“This preacher here knows how to bring
people together…He’s a well-focused man. He
knows what he’s doing, and he knows where he
wants to go and how to get there.”
(source:http://allchristiannews.com)
SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | July 2014 | www.spectacularmag.com