An item from Episcopal News Service begins:
Picture this: an altar; an earth-shattering sound system; people of all ages "jamming to the groove"; and an Episcopal bishop rapping and feeling the beat.
"My sistas and brothas, all my homies and peeps, stay up -- keep your head up, holla back, and go forth and tell like it is." With this proclamation, Bishop Suffragan Cathy Roskam of New York sent people on their way at the Bronx's third Hip Hop Mass, held Friday, July 2 at Trinity Church of Morrisania. . . .
OK, now we all know the agony of bishops who are down with the peeps. Now imagine If some musicians had only pursued the episcopacy:
Billboard Top 10 High-Church Hits
1. Purple Reign, the Rt. Rev. Prince Rogers Nelson (Diocese of Minnesota)
2. You Picked the Wrong Bishop to F--- With, the Rt. Rev. Ice Cube (Diocese of Los Angeles)
3. That Ain't No Rag, it's the Constitution & Canons, the Rt. Rev. Charlie Daniels (Diocese of Tennessee)
4. High on the Jesus Seminar, the Rt. Rev. Kinky Friedman (Diocese of Texas)
5. My Sweet Lord (theme song of the United Religions Initiative), the Rt. Rev. George Harrison (Diocese of California)
6. Goin' to the (Civil but Obviously Nonsacramental) Chapel, the Rt. Rev. Phil Spector (Diocese of Massachusetts)
7. Imagine, the Rt. Rev. John Lennon (Diocese of Newark)
8. Obviously Five Believers (in the Hermeneutic of Oppression), the Rt. Rev. Bob Dylan (Diocese of New York)
9. Mennonite Surf Party, by the Rt. Rev. Billy C. Wirtz (Diocese of North Carolina)
10. Pass the Peace, the Rt. Rev. Maceo Parker (Diocese of West Tennessee [Memphis])