Each generation brings new challenges and opportunities to the church. One such challenge/ opportunity facing the black church today comes in the form of the hip hop generation. Hip hop is DJing and MCing, break dancing and rapping; street art, street talk, and street smarts. It has its own language, its own look, its own consciousness. Hip hop is a culture and an identity, and for many African American churches, hip hop and its generation are both disturbing and frightening.
Church leaders are asking: How do we understand and reach this generation? How can we as African Americans embrace something that makes us look so bad? Can one live hip hop and still be a Christian?
Ralph C. Watkins and his fellow contributors address these questions and more in this timely and important new resource. They offer sociological, theological, and biblical perspectives and respond from their experiences creating The Gospel Remix in their own congregations and communities. In addition, they provide candid ministry profiles of the hip hop pastor as prophet, father, peer, and model professional.
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"Watkins outlines a movement toward hip hop which is incarnational, sacrificial and authentic. He offers an insightful introduction to the culture and raises many questions to guide churches and pastors through contextualizing ministry to and with hip hop. This is a valuable and timely resource." --YouthWorker Journal, March/April 2009
About the Author
Ralph C. Watkins is assistant dean of African American Church Studies and associate professor of Society, Religion and Africana Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is also director of Christian education for First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. An active teaching scholar, Dr. Watkins has more than 250 publications and conference presentations to his credit, and is the author of I Ain t Afraid to Speak My Mind. He holds a D.Min. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Jason A. Barr Jr. is senior pastor at Macedonia Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and adjunct professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Geneva College. He holds an M.Div. from Duke University.
Jamal-Harrison Bryant is the founder and pastor of one the fastest growing AME churches in the nation, The Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to his role as pastor, Rev. Bryant served as the director of the NAACP's youth and college division. He holds an M.Div. from Duke University.
William H. Curtis is senior pastor of Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Curtis was elected president of the Hampton University Ministers Conference for 2007 and was a contributor to Outstanding Black Sermons, Volume 4 (Judson Press 2001). He holds an M.Div. from Howard University and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary.
Otis Moss III is pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, IL. He is author of Redemption in a Red Light District, and has contributed to The African American Pulpit, Sojourners, and Urban Spectrum. Rev. Moss holds an M.Div. from Yale University.
Ralph Watkins is associate professor of evangelism and church growth at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur Georgia. His work focuses on building bridges between young adults and the church in order to develop future leaders.
With over 20 years of pastoral, teaching, and administrative experience, Watkins is an active teaching scholar and has over 250 publications and conference presentations to his credit. He is author of the books The Gospel Remix: Reaching the Hip Hop Generation (2007) and I Ain't Afraid to Speak My Mind (2003). His most recent book Jay Z to Jesus: Reaching and Teaching Young Adults in the African American Church which he co-authored with Benjamin Stephens is helping thousands of congregations around the country effectively reach young adults in urban centers. His new book Successful Pastoral Transitions in the African American Church is due to be released in June of 2010 from Judson Press. He is currently working on his next book project, Hip-Hop Redemption: Finding God in the Music and the Message to be released by Baker Academic Press in late 2010. Additionally, Watkins contributed the chapter "Rap, Religion, and New Realities: The Emergence of a Religious Discourse in Rap Music" to the book Noise and Spirit: The Religious Sensibilities of Rap Music (2003), which is considered an outstanding treatment of hip-hop and theology. In recent years, Watkins has received a Governor's Teaching Fellowship, Lilly Teaching Fellowship, Fulbright Hayes Fellowship for a study in Ghana, a Wabash Teaching Fellowship, and various awards and study grants to study in the in Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Mexico, and Ethiopia. He is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination and served as the executive pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles under Rev. Dr. John J. Hunter. Prior to returning to FAME he served as Director of Ecclesia / Executive Pastor at The City of Refuge under Bishop Noel Jones.
Anything with Jamaal Bryant and Otis Moss III has to be something special because those who know them know that they always bring nuggets that everyone can use.
