Hip-Hop Outreach

Evangelism through youth ministry

J.U.M.P. Worship: Reaching Out Through Hip-Hop

It’s 7:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night in Minneapolis. It’s not surprising that a youth group might gather for a meeting in a neighborhood church’s community center. But what goes on at the Redeemer Lutheran Church’s youth group meeting might surprise and truly delight you. Here at Tuesday Night Rehearsals for J.U.M.P. Worship (Joint Urban Ministries in Praise), kids learn and celebrate the week’s scripture in a unique way – through hip hop music.

The studio is always a vibrant place, and tonight is no different. It’s buzzing with activity, laughter, and creativity. In a corner, three teens crowd around the Internet watching a video of their favorite Christian rap artist for inspiration for their choreography routine. Five other children rehearse their spoken word routine, where they alternate reciting a line of a memorized poem in rhythmic succession. Still others perform a dance routine in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirrors that line one side of the large room.

The studio is part of the Redeemer Center for Life, a ministry of Redeemer Lutheran Church that was made possible in part with a loan from the Mission Investment Fund. The congregation’s pastor, the Rev. Kelly Chatman, is happy about what the congregation has been able to accomplish in the five years since the opening of the Center for Life, which also includes a low-income apartment building and a community café and gathering space that serves the diverse North Minneapolis neighborhood of Harrison.

And one of his favorite programs at the Center is J.U.M.P., where young people study and learn scripture through an art form that is a true expression of their urban culture and experience.

Perhaps it’s appropriate that it’s all happening here at Redeemer, because “redeemed” is what these kids have been. In their rough neighborhood, the kids -- many of whom are underprivileged -- are often witnesses to street crime and gang activity. Being able to express themselves through hip-hop music and praise gives them a sense of identity, and keeps them from being tempted by a life on the streets. “These kids are used to feeling stigmatized at times, and they feel as through their music is stigmatized,” says Pastor Chatman. “Now here’s a chance for them to feel empowered, to use it as an art form, and a vehicle for learning. They’ve taken it and made it their own. It’s just tremendous.”

Although the pastor considers himself an avid fan of the J.U.M.P. performances, he can’t take credit for what they’ve accomplished. It began with a man named David Scherer, whose professional name is Agape. A youth leader with the ELCA who was passionate about hip-hop music, Agape found an outlet for his two passions. He started J.U.M.P. as a way to “spread God’s love through hip-hop,” and Redeemer Lutheran was one of its first official programs.

Since then, J.U.M.P. has extended its geographical and ecumenical reach, inviting in urban youth from a number of denominations and churches. Agape’s unique curriculum allows them to study and celebrate the Bible through storytelling, dancing, singing, and rap.

And the kids love more than anything to take their show on the road, performing often at youth group conferences, congregations, and community events throughout Minneapolis and beyond. Everywhere they go, the kids from J.U.M.P. get a similarly ebullient reaction from their audiences. Their energy is electric, their smiles infectious, their creativity inspiring. But perhaps most impressive is the meaning behind their music. When it comes to scripture, J.U.M.P. performers “know their stuff.” And it shows. In fact, many of the kids who have participated in Tuesday night rehearsals gain the confidence and experience they need to go on to lead multi-cultural services and programs at the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering.

If “music is the language of the soul,” J.U.M.P. participants are fluent.