Urban Praze - the Hip Hop Church in north London

"From Sunday, Parishioners of Mill Hill East Church, in Salcombe Gardens, will be able to attend the 9.30pm hip hop-themed service Urban Praze, during which Christian rappers and other artists will perform contemporary worship music."  So said "The Press", a north London newspaper earlier this week.  Not quite how I would have put it but certainly accurate in its essentials.

As far back as 2006 the "Christian Today" news site was reporting that, according to Roney Henderson, founder of UK’s first-ever Gospel and Church Awards, ‘Oasis Awards’, "the overall Christian music scene in the UK looks ‘very urban’ at the moment".  For "urban" we can read "hip hop", the two being often used synonymously.

Hip hop is the music of the streets and the heart music of many people, by which I mean its how they express themselves.  This being the case it is appropriate, I would go as far as to say necessary, for hip hop music to be used more widely in church worship.

My prayer is that Urban Praze will provide a place for people to worship from the heart and be a catalyst for more hip hop worship of God in churches across north London.  However, Urban Praze is not just rapping, it includes preaching from the Bible and prayer. The music is wider than just rap, it includes Hillsong and Soul Survivor style contemporary worship too.  Sounds exciting?  Tell me about it, I can't wait!

When is it? 9.30pm this Sunday and every Sunday.  For the map on the church facebook page click here.