Disciples of the Street

The Promise of a Hip Hop Church

"This is a stunner. Eric Gutierrez opens closed windows of the soul and delivers an utterly challenging, refreshingly original work. Read it." Malcolm Boyd - Author of "Are You Running with me, Jesus?" What would cause a small, 140 year-old, Episcopal Church in the heart of the South Bronx to begin offering hip-hop services? How would the church, both locally and nationally, react? Utilizing scores or interviews and months of research, Disciples of the Street is the story of one Church's engagement with hip-hop religion, the conflicts that ensued, and the resulting birth of something much larger. Following the start of that small hip hop religious movement from its inception in the summer of 2004, through its building of a national profile, in a story that moves from the birthplace of rap to youth detention facilities in Virginia to the New South and all manner of places in between, Gutierrez looks deeply into the questions of what hip-hop has to say to the traditional church and what the church might say to hip-hop culture. Disciples of the Street is a compelling story well told and the definitive look at the issues facing a movement that's growing in popularity and gaining traction around the country.