Hip-Hop Mass

Whilst perusing the Herald-Sun, looking for a link to the Best Places to live story I'd heard on the radio, I came across this Headline:

 

Priest Brings "hip-hop Mass" to Durham

 

Turns out it's an Episcopal priest from NYC, and that it might be a one-time thing, lest some St. Blogs folks go apopleptic...

 

DURHAM -- Not many people would guess that rapper Tupac Shakur could serve as inspiration for a priest, but that's exactly the case for the Rev. Timothy Holder of Trinity Episcopal Church of Morrisania in the South Bronx.

 

"The Tupac song 'Dear Mama' made me a better human being and a better priest," said Holder, who is the founder of what he calls "hip hop Mass," a service that incorporates the standards of religious practice with the culture of hip-hop.

 

Holder is bringing his brand of Mass to the Triangle and will be leading the congregation at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, 403 E. Main St., in prayer at 11 a.m. today [5/5/06] 

 

The service will feature the newly released "Hip Hop Prayer Book," and performances will include a band, rappers, and local step and breakdancers. An MTV crew will also be on hand filming the offbeat Mass.  

 

.......

 

The "Hip Hop Prayer Book," which will be used in today's Mass, includes daily prayers, psalms and a variety of services "designed with the enlivening power of hip-hop in mind," Holder said.

In the [prayer] book, famous texts have been adapted to today's vernacular. For example, the modified version of Psalm 23 reads: [full text from here]:

 

23rd Psalm
(Adapted by Ryan Kearse)

 

The Lord is all that, I need for nothing.
He allows me to chill.
He keeps me from being heated
and allows me to breathe easy.
He guides my life so that
I can represent and give
shouts out in his Name.
And even though I walk through
the Hood of death,
I don't back down
for you have my back.
The fact that you have me covered
allows me to chill.
He provides me with back-up
in front of my player-haters
and I know that I am a baller
and life will be phat.
I fall back in the Lord's crib
for the rest of my life.

 

More info here:  www.HipHopEMass.org.  

 

Definitons, if needed, here: www.urbandictionary.com.

 

Not sure just what else to say...