Covenant News

Hip-Hop Church on Superstation WGN Monday

CHICAGO, IL (April 28, 2005) - The House, a Chicago church plant of the Evangelical Covenant Church that focuses on reaching the hip-hop culture, will be featured on WGN TV's "News at Nine" at 9 p.m. Monday. The feature will be carried on a number of cable stations across the country that include Superstation WGN. Viewers should check their local listings.

The church already has been featured on the nationally broadcast PBS show Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. The transcript as well as a video of the broadcast can be found at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week825/cover.html.

Pastor Phil Jackson was a panelist at a recent North Park University symposium on "Hip-Hop: A Voice for Justice." Participants said that churches often refuse to use culturally relevant means of ministry - including hip-hop - that have proven effective in reaching people who otherwise might not give the gospel a hearing.

"There's a vast gap between the church and the street," Jackson said. The streets where The House is centered have an unemployment rate of roughly 50 percent. Drug use and violence are an everyday occurrence.

"There's a lack of urgency," Jackson lamented about ministry in the city. "There's not a zeal for the people. There's a heart for 'church-ianity,' but not Christianity."

To read an article from the North Park Hip Hop symposium click here Hip Hop 'AVoice for Justice'

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