News Article From Albany Diocese
Rapper finds beat of faith
BY KAREN DIETLEIN
STAFF WRITER - THE EVANGELIST
At St. Paul the Apostle Church in Schenectady last weekend, the afterlife looked a lot like a hip-hop concert.
"We're gonna take it back for the Church!" rapper Righteous B called into a hand-held microphone, twisting words into rhymes and working the crowd with an upraised, gesturing hand.
Hip-hop music rumbled and roared from large speakers on either side of the school gym's stage as dozens of Catholic teens from St. Paul's and St. Ambrose Church in Latham screamed approval.
"We're gonna bless the crowd!" the rapper cried.
'God of life'
The beats were secular, but the message was spiritual at the concert, which St. Paul's hosted as part of its Afterlife program, held after teen Masses.
Through rap and rhyme, Righteous B (aka Houston-based Catholic youth minister Bob Lesnefsky) imparted a message to the throng of teens that God isn't stale, dusty, boring or irrelevant.
"Our God is the God of life!" he said from the stage. "We hear about the vocation crisis, the sex abuse crisis. What we really got is a crisis of boring people in the Church. We need to be a people God is taking over. Wherever you're at in your life, Jesus Christ is calling you to be radical."
Rapper's message
For many teens, the concert was also a reunion. Five years ago, Mr. Lesnefsky inaugurated the Life Teen program at St. Paul's. He shepherded many of the evening's revelers through Teen Masses, Scripture study, social events, retreats, service projects and Confirmation prep.
He grew up listening to hip-hop in Philadelphia and carried his love for the form to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he earned a degree in theology. In 2000, he was at St. Paul's, facing the challenge of adapting traditional youth ministry techniques to reach teens in the parish and in the neighborhood around the parish with "Christ's message," he said.
"Hip-hop is big right now," he told The Evangelist. "It's not just the city kids. It's everywhere. And hip-hop is at the forefront of art; it has an influence on every kind of music right now. It's not just the music. It's what you're doing, where you're going. [Youth ministers] have to enter into the culture."
Art and Christ
At St. Paul's concert, boys wore backwards baseball caps and hoodie sweatshirts; girls sported glitter and logo tees. Mr. Lesnefsky echoed them in jeans, a logo tee, silver earrings and a terry wristband.
As a Catholic artist, he said, he tries to heed the call of Pope John Paul II, "who said that we need more Catholic artists, people who are breathing Christ into all forms of art."
That happens, he explained, "when you listen to hip-hop. It engages your whole body, with dance moves, singing with the hooks and choruses. It's just like when we come to know Christ: He wants to engage our whole lives."
Connections
Kayla Schumaker, 23, believes that events like the concert help teens make a connection with their faith and the world -- and that it helps them feel more comfortable being a Christian.
"This type of music is all about getting hooked by something, a sense of belonging. His lyrics have meaning behind him that kids can relate to," she explained.
"It's all about the message," said Adam Powhida, 19, referring to hip-hop. "When you mix in all the profanity, that's when it gets bad. This message is pro-God."
"It's the content of what you're saying, not the beat behind it, that matters," Katie Hauenstein, 19, said. "And it's my style."
Pastor's blessing
Rev. George Brucker, pastor of St. Paul's, called Mr. Lesnefsky "an outstanding youth minister. He brought many teens back to the faith because of the program. It's one of the best programs we brought into the parish."
The priest called the concert the teens' "time to be demonstrative and spontaneous, and that's what hip-hop allows you to do. It's lively, gets hold of you, really makes you want to get up and bounce."
Seventeen-year-old Theresa Allen pronounced the concert "awesome. It took normal radio songs and turned them into Christian songs. Everybody was so full of energy."
Kim Himes, 17, agreed, saying: "I think it'll open people's eyes that hip-hop doesn't always have to be bad, that they can put good into words."
Endorsements
Lizzie Smalley, 18, had been part of Mr. Lesnefsky's youth group and brought her younger sister, Becky, to the concert.
"These days, when kids think about Church, they think about boring things," Lizzie noted. "This is a new evangelistic style that works. It worked here, and got kids off the streets and into church."
"It was awesome, just blew me away," raved 16-year-old Chris Mangano. "Christian influence is very nice to have in the music because of the message it has."
(3/17/05)
BY KAREN DIETLEIN
STAFF WRITER - THE EVANGELIST
At St. Paul the Apostle Church in Schenectady last weekend, the afterlife looked a lot like a hip-hop concert.
"We're gonna take it back for the Church!" rapper Righteous B called into a hand-held microphone, twisting words into rhymes and working the crowd with an upraised, gesturing hand.
Hip-hop music rumbled and roared from large speakers on either side of the school gym's stage as dozens of Catholic teens from St. Paul's and St. Ambrose Church in Latham screamed approval.
"We're gonna bless the crowd!" the rapper cried.
'God of life'
The beats were secular, but the message was spiritual at the concert, which St. Paul's hosted as part of its Afterlife program, held after teen Masses.
Through rap and rhyme, Righteous B (aka Houston-based Catholic youth minister Bob Lesnefsky) imparted a message to the throng of teens that God isn't stale, dusty, boring or irrelevant.
"Our God is the God of life!" he said from the stage. "We hear about the vocation crisis, the sex abuse crisis. What we really got is a crisis of boring people in the Church. We need to be a people God is taking over. Wherever you're at in your life, Jesus Christ is calling you to be radical."
Rapper's message
For many teens, the concert was also a reunion. Five years ago, Mr. Lesnefsky inaugurated the Life Teen program at St. Paul's. He shepherded many of the evening's revelers through Teen Masses, Scripture study, social events, retreats, service projects and Confirmation prep.
He grew up listening to hip-hop in Philadelphia and carried his love for the form to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he earned a degree in theology. In 2000, he was at St. Paul's, facing the challenge of adapting traditional youth ministry techniques to reach teens in the parish and in the neighborhood around the parish with "Christ's message," he said.
"Hip-hop is big right now," he told The Evangelist. "It's not just the city kids. It's everywhere. And hip-hop is at the forefront of art; it has an influence on every kind of music right now. It's not just the music. It's what you're doing, where you're going. [Youth ministers] have to enter into the culture."
Art and Christ
At St. Paul's concert, boys wore backwards baseball caps and hoodie sweatshirts; girls sported glitter and logo tees. Mr. Lesnefsky echoed them in jeans, a logo tee, silver earrings and a terry wristband.
As a Catholic artist, he said, he tries to heed the call of Pope John Paul II, "who said that we need more Catholic artists, people who are breathing Christ into all forms of art."
That happens, he explained, "when you listen to hip-hop. It engages your whole body, with dance moves, singing with the hooks and choruses. It's just like when we come to know Christ: He wants to engage our whole lives."
Connections
Kayla Schumaker, 23, believes that events like the concert help teens make a connection with their faith and the world -- and that it helps them feel more comfortable being a Christian.
"This type of music is all about getting hooked by something, a sense of belonging. His lyrics have meaning behind him that kids can relate to," she explained.
"It's all about the message," said Adam Powhida, 19, referring to hip-hop. "When you mix in all the profanity, that's when it gets bad. This message is pro-God."
"It's the content of what you're saying, not the beat behind it, that matters," Katie Hauenstein, 19, said. "And it's my style."
Pastor's blessing
Rev. George Brucker, pastor of St. Paul's, called Mr. Lesnefsky "an outstanding youth minister. He brought many teens back to the faith because of the program. It's one of the best programs we brought into the parish."
The priest called the concert the teens' "time to be demonstrative and spontaneous, and that's what hip-hop allows you to do. It's lively, gets hold of you, really makes you want to get up and bounce."
Seventeen-year-old Theresa Allen pronounced the concert "awesome. It took normal radio songs and turned them into Christian songs. Everybody was so full of energy."
Kim Himes, 17, agreed, saying: "I think it'll open people's eyes that hip-hop doesn't always have to be bad, that they can put good into words."
Endorsements
Lizzie Smalley, 18, had been part of Mr. Lesnefsky's youth group and brought her younger sister, Becky, to the concert.
"These days, when kids think about Church, they think about boring things," Lizzie noted. "This is a new evangelistic style that works. It worked here, and got kids off the streets and into church."
"It was awesome, just blew me away," raved 16-year-old Chris Mangano. "Christian influence is very nice to have in the music because of the message it has."
(3/17/05)
posted by Righteous B at 8:18 PM
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