With a bouncy, updated version of the gospel song “Wade in the Water,” the Church N the Hood ministry had the Unity Fellowship Church New Brunswick congregation clapping, popping and locking Saturday night at a special service.
Church N the Hood, a non-denominational outreach ministry rooted in inclusive, streetwise and liberated Christian theology, aims to inspire people to have their own personal relationship with God, Pastor Rev. LaDana Clark said.
“The hood stands for urban America because that’s where I’m from. Our doors, hearts and spirits are open to people from all walks of life,” Clark said.
Church N the Hood started in Atlanta in 1994 in Techwood Homes, a public housing development, when Clark came to a realization.
“The Lord brought it to my attention that there was a spiritual deficit in our young people,” she said. “They were going to church, but they weren’t really getting it in a way that they accepted.”
Clark said she knew it was not going to be easy to motivate spirituality in youths but was confident in her knowledge of music.
“I knew that I had to accept it because something inside of me was like fire shut up in my bones,” she said.
Since then, Clark has gone to court to support single mothers, toured prisons preaching and helped whomever whenever she can.
“I’m just a one-on-one outreach pastor,” she said. “I get in my car with a phone call at one o’clock in the morning, go see about somebody’s kid or go down to the police station.”
Clark said she knew her music industry and radio broadcasting experience would allow her to connect with young people.
“I used to bring Run-DMC, Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D and the Boyz up on stage,” she said. “I was familiar with hip hop culture. God told me to take the music and wrap it in a message.”
The service sets up a unique tone and delivers a different kind of message than young people may be used to hearing, Clark said.
“A lot of times we try to put people in our boxes and when they don’t fit we get upset,” Clark said. “Faith is something that should not be legislated or regulated in somebody’s mind.”
Clark preached about changing the world by taking positive steps.
“We can stop the violence. We can stop the madness. We can stop our kids dying in the street. We can do that but we got to mix it with what we get in here and what we go to college and get,” she said.
Laticia Lewis performed “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston and a number of other songs she wrote for keyboards, vocals and violins.
Lewis, a University alumna who is now a music teacher in Hackensack, N.J., said Church N the Hood provides young people with positive role models.
“It definitely offers inspiration,” she said. “A kid may want to learn to play an instrument or sing, and this allows them to perform in front of large groups of people.”
Alex Kemoki, a Somerset resident and Middlesex County College student, performed a dance during the service.
Kemoki said the program helped him and allowed him to connect with young people in the area.
“It helped me realize how to love myself and love others,” he said.
Clark hopes to increase involvement from the neighboring University and college community in the coming year.
Church N the Hood holds service every first Saturday of the month at 6 p.m. at Unity Fellowship Church New Brunswick at 1250 Marigold St. in North Brunswick.
Another service takes place every second Saturday at 6 p.m. at United Church of Christ Congregational at 220 West 7th St. in Plainfield, N.J.
Urban church congregation pops, locks to inspire
Published: Thursday, February 11, 2010
Updated: Thursday, February 11, 2010
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