Dr. Jamal H. Bryant, West Work to Redefine the Worship Experience

Stonecrest, GA – With more than 10,000 people packing New Birth’s sanctuary, Grammy Award winning artist Kanye West hosted his recent ‘Sunday Service’ at the Stonecrest megachurch. The ‘Stronger’ and ‘Jesus Walks’ artist led a 600-person choir, 150 of those traveling from California to join New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s choir and other local singers, for his pop up praise and worship event.

“At a time where unfortunately, the church is becoming less and less relevant to this generation of young people, we are committed to doing all we can to shift that mentality and show that the church is not only relevant but necessary,” said Senior Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant. “This was an incredible day that started with a dynamic message by Bishop I.V. Hilliard and proceeded to a redefined worship experience led by Kanye West.”

In just 36 hours, New Birth officials coordinated with West’s camp to create a praise and worship experience filled with traditional gospel songs and secular hits with modified lyrics. From the Christian ballet “How Excellent” to West’s remixed “Father Stretch My Hands,” the 30-minute worship service worked to bridge the gap between various generations and music affinities.

“On Sunday it was Kanye West, last month it was our shoe drive for undeserved students in our community and the month before that we worked to bail out non-violent offenders to reconnect them with their families,” added Bryant. “All of it is important and hopefully effective in engaging our next generation of leaders and winning souls for the body of Christ.”

In addition to West and his traveling choir, New Birth welcomed a host of celebrities including, rappers Clifford “T.I.” Harris, 2 Chainz, Lil Yachty, actor Chris Tucker, producer Jermaine Dupri, and more.

Social media was abuzz as word spread of West’s pop up service at the Stonecrest mega church, making the day the top local trending topic in the state. “We have to be intentional about being unconventional in our efforts in connecting with young people. It doesn’t matter if its Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, we want to meet various generations where they are.”

Video of Full Service:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eRjYD3LYvs

This article originally appeared in the Atlanta Daily World.

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