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Hip Hop Birthday Party for Jesus Brings Neighborhood to Church

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Times change, but sadly institutions often stay the same. That's why people living around Park Place Methodist Church in Norfolk, Virginia, haven't always felt welcome there.

"The tradition of this church has been very formal and we have an informal community that has moved around the church. Unfortunately, we have a generation that has become estranged to Christianity and estranged to the church nearby," said Pastor Joe McDaniel, Park Place Ministries executive director. 

Over the weekend, McDaniel partnered with CBN and several other sponsors to throw a Hip Hop birthday party for Jesus--inviting all of their neighbors to attend.

"We're going to give out a lot of gifts," McDaniel said. "We're going to give out food, but most importantly we're going to celebrate the birth of our Lord." 

Park Place Ministries hopes that events like this one will help bridge the gap between the Church and the community.

"When we find Christianity in various parts of the world we find crime rates are low; we find marriages are doing better; we find that the family is better," McDaniel told CBN News. "So in theory where Christ is we have a stronger community."

"So the idea is to put Christ into the community and rid ourselves of a lot of the problems that we have here in this community," he said.

The Hip Hop party also allowed Park Place Ministries to get a better understanding of their community's needs and tell them more about new outreach programs.

"Our challenge is to meet them where they are, first of all, and to little by little, with the help of partners but most of all the help of God to get them where they need to be," McDaniel said.

"It's always good to have a church in the community that's willing to give back to the community, keep kids happy, keep them off the street, keep them out of a lot of things that they could be doing," said Curtis Adams, a volunteer at the event.

CBN donated 50 food baskets, 300 gift bags and several other prizes.

The ministry also plans to continue to partner with McDaniel as he works to bring Christ to the local community.


 

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About The Author

Caitlin Burke Headshot
Caitlin
Burke

Caitlin Burke serves as National Security Correspondent and a general assignment reporter for CBN News. She has also hosted the CBN News original podcast, The Daily Rundown. Some of Caitlin’s recent stories have focused on the national security threat posed by China, America’s military strength, and vulnerabilities in the U.S. power grid. She joined CBN News in July 2010, and over the course of her career, she has had the opportunity to cover stories both domestically and abroad. Caitlin began her news career working as a production assistant in Richmond, Virginia, for the NBC affiliate WWBT