Though they’d always had a negative view of hip hop, they wrote the pastor a few days later, “to see my son excited about serving Christ and excited about going to church, it has really been a blessing to me and my family.”

For Pastor Stacey Jones, that family was just one of countless testimonies that have spurred him and his wife, Tryenyse, on in their vision for a church that reaches a younger generation through “Presenting the Kingdom of God in relevant form by providing a hip hop approach to worship.”

The Jones’ both grew up heavily involved in church and at the same time immersed in the rising culture of hip hop. “Hip hop taught me it was cool to be socially conscious, to pursue information and knowledge and to be educated,” Stacey said.

Yet, that didn’t mean he’d learned how to incorporate it into his faith. “Early on, I didn’t know it was possible to bring hip hop into church.”

Though the Jones’ continued to use hip hop music to connect with young people through their music ministry, Love Jones, it wasn’t until 2004 that God started giving them a vision for a hip hop church.


Vision for a church
“God created us with a love for this music, and it became a natural thing to incorporate that within whatever we did for God,” said Tryneyse. They initially shared the vision with the two churches they were ministering at, North Minneapolis Christian Fellowship and Sanctuary Covenant Church, and were surprised by the overwhelming support they received.

“Youth all over the globe are being influenced by hip hop and urban culture in general,” said Pastor Efrem Smith of Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis. “Pastor Stacey is one who can minister to young people where they are.”

By 2006, the Jones’ had received enough prayer and financial support to rent space on the northside of Minneapolis and officially launch Urban Jerusalem. An answer to prayer came when a former mentor of the Jones’ learned about their vision for a church plant and connected them with the Foursquare Church, which Urban Jerusalem is now an official church under.

The church meets Saturday nights at 7:00 p.m., hoping to connect with a generation of young people who aren’t interested in getting up on a Sunday morning. Passerbys on Emerson and Broadway can hear the bass line and see youth walking into a building with sideways baseball caps and over-sized jerseys.

To some, it might look like another rowdy party, but those who enter will hear lyrics that talk about praising God and a pastor whose short sermons speak directly to the heart of what many young people are struggling with today. Pastor Stacey has many stories of youth popping their heads in and being struck by what they see.

“Man, this is a church? I’m definitely going to be coming back!” shouted one young man whose sagging pants and turned cap would have made him seem anything but a church goer to some. All reactions aren’t humorous, though. For young people, who’ve felt shunned by traditional churches, the space Urban Jerusalem provides to connect with God is astounding.

“To see a group of African American young men—whose lives have been impacted by gang violence, drug dealing, drug use—up at the alter receiving prayer is an amazing sight to see,” said Stacey.

Cyreta Howard, a life-long northsider, describes the Jones’ as her “spiritual parents.” She’s currently attending college downtown but is proud to call Urban Jerusalem, “UJ,” her church home. “You can be yourself when you go to UJ,” said Howard. “I can go to UJ in my sweats and a baseball cap and be comfortable.”


Doing more
Despite the impact the Jones’ ministry is already having, they’d love to be able to do more. Since the start of the church, Stacey has been a bi-vocational pastor, working at Urban Ventures and Hospitality House to cover expenses while taking care of his family and the many needs of the young people he serves in between those times.

“I would love to serve at the church full time. The needs are more demanding than I have hours to give,” he said. Raising a tithe for a full-time pastor isn’t an easy thing to do when your congregation consists of teenagers and young adults coming from low-income and struggling families.

“That’s why I’ve worked for so long; I don’t want to put any pressure on the church for support.”

Still, the Jones’ continue to pray that enough outside support will come in so that Stacey can contribute his full time and energy to the needs of the church and the young people he serves.

“The need is great. The more I’m serving, the more I’m starting to see the need,” he said.


ACTION BOX: For more information about Urban Jerusalem, visit www.urbanjerusalem.com.