BALIVA IN LOCAL TIMES PAPER
A reverend says “hip-hop is the liturgy of the future” as he successfully launches an evening service with a musical twist. Offering people the chance to worship in style, Rev Peter Cooper welcomed approximately 50 people to his first Urban Praze service at Mill Hill East Church in Salcombe Gardens last night. Leading an informal sermon based on the Bible, Rev Cooper was accompanied by Christian rapper Mark Johnes, aka Baliva, who encouraged the congregation to sing-along and worship through hip-hop. Read more on the Times Newspaper.
BALIVA’S ARTICLE FOR JOHN3:30.co.uk
In May 2010 I told my boss that I was planning on leaving my job to spend a year serving my local church. This was an unpaid year where I would be involved in serving my church’s media team while receiving theological training. There was no degree to be received, no job at the end of it, and I was not looking for either.
I was following God’s call to grow in the word of God and help further the gospel by volunteering at my church on a full time basis. I had no idea what would happen to me or what I would be doing after the voluntary year but all I knew was, God called me to make the first faith step like Abraham did in Genesis.
