The Hip-Hop Church: Connecting with the Movement Shaping Our Culture

Efrem Smith · Phil Jackson

Apr. 2012 · InterVarsity Press

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Hip-hop is here. The beats ring out in our cities. Hip-hop culture is all around us: in the clothes youth wear, in the music they listen to, in the ways they express themselves. It is the language they speak, the rhythm they move to. It is a culture familiar with the hard realities of our broken world; the generation raised with rap knows about the pain. They need to know about the hope. Enter the hip-hop church. Like the culture it rises from, the hip-hop church is relevant and bold. And it speaks to the heart. In this book, pastors Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson show the urgency of connecting hip-hop culture and church to reach a generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They give practical ideas from their urban churches and other hip-hop churches about how to engage and incorporate rap, break dancing, poetry and deejays to worship Jesus and preach his Word. Hip-hop culture is shaping the next generation. Ignoring it will not reduce its influence; it will only separate us from the youth moving to its rhythm. How will they hear Christ's message of truth and hope if we don't speak their language? And how can we speak their language if we don't understand and embrace their culture? Hear the beat. Join the beat. Become the beat that brings truth and hope to a hungry, hurting generation.

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Efrem Smith is president and CEO of World Impact. As a preacher, motivational speaker and author, Smith is internationally recognized for his passion to see lasting life transformation, revitalized communities and further Kingdom advancement within churches. He also consults on issues of multi-ethnicity, leadership and community development for churches and educational institutions. Serving as founding pastor of The Sanctuary Covenant Church, a multi-ethnic church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Smith also co-founded and was president of The Sanctuary Community Development Corporation. He served as superintendent of the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church, providing leadership to 160 churches within California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Utah. An itinerant speaker and preacher with Kingdom Building Ministries and the Evangelical Covenant Church, he has been a keynote speaker for such events as Athletes in Action, Campus Crusade for Christ, Youth Specialties, Compassion International, Thrive and CHIC. He is the author of Raising up Young Heroes, The Hip Hop Church and The Post-Black and Post-White Church. Smith is a graduate of Saint John's University and Luther Theological Seminary. He is currently seeking his doctorate in Church Leadership from Bethel Seminar. He and his wife Donecia, along with their two children, live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Phil Jackson serves as Lead Pastor of The House Covenant Church and associate pastor of Lawndale Community Church. The House is one of Chicago's first all-youth and young adult hip-hop churches. Through The House, Phil engages 500-600 youth and young adults influenced by the hip-hop culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ, creating a culturally relevant yet biblically accurate hip-hop worship experience. With nearly two decades of urban youth ministry experience, Phil also trains and consults with youth leaders and youth pastors in urban communities across the country through Bringn' Dafunk Communications, Inc., a ministry he founded to change the way the gospel is communicated to youth. Jackson is currently pursuing Master's degrees in theology and business at Northpark Seminary.