European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 15, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 15 2007 stars and stripes Page 29 religion preacher fills pews in Calif with hiphop by Jonathan Abrams los Angeles times Moreno Valley Calif e goes by the name of pastor Flo As he stood in the pulpit of the hiphop Sanctuary new generation Church All eyes were on him they say we cant have hiphop and Church said Flo a Lay preacher whose real name is Roosevelt Sargent i say this is real Church if s just presented by and for the hiphop Community but dont get it wrong this is a place of Praise and worship in the dimly lighted Church a chorus of agreement rang out murals of the last supper dangled from the Wall a deejay scratching Bas booming Wall humping music worked from the pulpit churchgoers wore drags and new Era fitted hats their hands clutched worn bibles with traditional churches seek ing ways to revitalize interest in worship particularly among the Young the distance be tween hiphop and religion is Clos ing and although some churches in mainly Urban areas devote portions of services roughly every month to hiphop congregations this Baptist Church in Moreno Val Ley is one of the first to present its worship services in hiphop terms what this indicates is the fact that the Black Church recognizes that hiphop has More of an a peal than religion to Black youth said Todd Boyd a professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California and author of the new hic the death of civil rights and the reign of hip hop if s a Case of them recognizing that their message is old and tired and hiphop gives them an Opportunity to reach a new audience Felix Roger Jones id pastor of All people Unity Baptist Church in nearby Redlands says he has concerns about hiphop oriented Gina Angeles times members of hiphop Sanctuary new generation Church dance after services the Church is presented by and for the hiphop Community but is definitely a place of Praise and worship said pastor Flo its founder churches based in Large part on the mainstream segment that glorifies violence Street gangs Lav ish lifestyles and misogyny in views my ears Are up As to what individuals who Call it hiphop Church Are about he said it is a Gim Mick to an extent Are you preach ing from the word of god Are you discipline people like Jesus did or Are you just trying to Experiment with hiphop Flo 33 says he has received plenty of emails and phone Calls discounting his methodology you already have Rock n Roll christianity old school Christian Ity country christianity he says How can there be All these different types of christianity and no room for hiphop christianity and these kids who go to Church and sit in the Back will Only be there for so Long the next step is out the door Flo used to be one of those kids out the door he fathered his first child at 15 messed with gangs and saw three Brothers and his father incarcerated for Long Peri ods he moved from Portland Ore to the Inland Empire to escape the culture that had seduced him he has dabbled in the hiphop Church movement for More than a decade after his former girl friends grandmother asked him to read the scripture with her he dreamed of starting the Church last year opened it in january and plans to open a Branch in Compton soon More than 300 people packed the Church grand opening the event featured hiphop Pioneer Kurtis blow who Tours the coun try establishing hiphop churches we were Messing with some fire codes that night Flo says after finishing the opening greeting on a recent thursday night Flo introduced Young pro born Santiago Abarca the 21yearold Riverside artist travels from Church to Church performing and testifying about his Faith Midway through the performance seven teenagers sheepishly sauntered into the Church they hesitated before taking a seat in the Back Pew Flo led the congregation in prayer and three of the Young peo ple removed their baseball Caps two turned off cell phones and All bowed their Heads Flo discusses a passage from the gospel of Matthew in which the disciples Are stuck on a boat during a storm and Jesus gives Peter the Faith to walk on water this is Church so we do read the Bible a Little bit Flo said now the disciples were Proba Bly tripping when they saw him walking on water the word Doest say that but yall know what i mean what he was doing was training his disciples by Faith because that is what he does prayer was Over Heads Rose hats snapped Back onto Heads Flo invited the congregation to come to the pulpit to rhyme expressions of their Faith and dance to the booming Bass while other members of the congregation handled the microphone the teenagers took turns trumping doing a highly energetic Jerky and expressive dance and a Circle of onlookers quickly formed around them we we rent going to be doing anything but watching cartoons on to said Alexander Pruitt 19 who said his friends belonged to a trumping Crew and Learned about the Church through mys Pace we thought this was going to be a big event like a party we ended up being the party the Church emptied and the congregation spilled outside after another High Energy service this int an alternative to the traditional Church said Diane Mooney whose daughter Chens and Friend Amber Harrell obey performed during the service but it does show that this Type of generational transition is in the forefront customizing cell phones with religious Content by Joe Rodriguez the Miami Herald Wichita Kan at each morning Kristin Armstrong receives a text message on her cell phone that helps her Start her Day in a positive Way the message a Bible verse also lets her maintain her focus on Faith i get up sometimes and in not getting up thinking of the wonderful Day god has ahead for me Armstrong 25 said then she reads her daily morning Mes Sage and it kind of helps me move my mind Back into the mindset it needs to when in going astray in the morning its a Nice reminder such messages Are among the growing number of Faith based services offered by wireless ser vice providers cell phone users can watch and listen to sermons of Caber Pas tors download Faith based ring and Wingback tones and have in formation about saints sent to their phones and the trend int limited to christians muslims can get a ser vice on their phone that alerts them when its time for their daily prayers or lets them download parts of the quran a web site ask Mosesco can Send out information on jewish history and re mind cell phone users of Sabbath and Holiday observances some of the services Are free while others have a fee charges can be by single usage or added to a monthly Bill most services can be accessed regardless of a persons cell phone provider As Long As the phone has the techno logical capability said Donna Sibani owner of wireless toys cellular superstore in Wichita people Are really Able to pick and choose what they want she said and More companies Are starting to recognize that for example Catholic Mobile was launched late last year the Denver based company offers a variety of ways for people to customize their phones to reflect their Faith among them people can download ringtones of ave Maria and amazing Grace or images of Jesus and Pope Bene dict Xvi customers can also receive daily prayers readings and information on saints mobiles have become Exten Sions of ourselves both by the Many tasks they do for us and the Way we try to personalize our cell phones said Alejandro Bermu Dej spokesman for Catholic to bile we believe people who Are Catholic should have Tine Opportunity to also turn their cell phones into extensions of themselves As catholics in most instances the services target tech Sawy Young people from teens to 30somethings who frequently use their Mobile devices for More than just phone Calls last month Verizon wireless added a Christia oriented Chan Nel to its wireless v cast entertainment menu along with get Ting sports comedy and pop Cul Ture video clips v cast subscribers can use a spiritual Channel called the Mobile word the Channel contains video clips from  which offers daily devotionals it also plays Bible verses and Christian music and entertainment clips we try and provide our customers with Content that we think they want and Faith based con tent is something we understood our customers were wanting said Verizon spokeswoman Cheryl bin Armbrecht