Sunday, August 06, 2006

Hip Hop Mass.

Now, I would have loved to have been here.
A thumping bass filled the nave of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday night. A choir offered a simple and hypnotic chant from rapper Kanye West’s song “Jesus Walks” as young African Americans danced down the center aisle behind a thurifer and other acolytes.

As part of the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) 38th national conference, the Rev. Tim Holder of the South Bronx celebrated the Hip HopeMass that he and many hip hop artists created in 2004.

Dancers in a first wave were frenetic and elastic, changing their moves every few minutes. A second wave ambled together two-by-two in a combination of hip hop moves called snapping and stepping. The procession wound up and down the aisles of St. Paul’s three times, and when “Jesus Walks” concluded, the congregation roared its enthusiasm.

2 comments:

Toewalker said...

Wow, I would LOVE to have experienced that

Ellie Finlay said...

It DOES sound quite wonderful!