In the Light of Your Halo: Augustana to Host Beyonce Mass

A local college is taking a special approach to a worship service next week.

Augustana College will host a Beyonce Mass. According to the college's website:

The service uses the music and life of Beyoncé to cultivate an empowering conversation about Black women — their lives, bodies and voices — and create an experience of story, scripture and song that calls for the liberation of all people.

It will be on April 13 at 7:00 p.m. at Centennial Hall. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. The public are limited to 3 tickets, Augustana students are limited to 1. Here's the link to get tickets for the service.

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The mass will include music from Beyonce's career, readings from Black female leaders, and a sermon from the service creator Rev. Yolanda Norton, a visiting professor at Moravian Theological Seminary and also the founder of the Global Arts and Theology Experience.

“Beyoncé Mass is a Christian worship service that centers Black women and embraces a liberation theology for all people.,” said Rev. Norton. “This is not a service deifying, or even centering Beyoncé. The premise is that Beyoncé’s music and life reflects so many aspects of Black women’s stories.”

You can get tickets at the door if there are any that haven't been reserved.

This isn't the first Beyonce Mass. The first Beyonce Mass was in San Francisco and drew a crowd of nearly 1,000 people in 2018. The service is designed to focus on how marginalized populations, especially Black women, are manifestations of God's love in the world.