Cathedral’s Beyoncé Mass makes a joyful noise for 900
A diverse crowd of many ages, races and denominations snaked through the courtyard at Grace Cathedral Wednesday night, waiting for the doors to open at the church’s first-ever Beyoncé Mass.
Staff at the Episcopal cathedral estimated that over 900 people came to the celebration of the traditional service using the music and social philosophy of the pop star.
“I heard about it about a week ago and was intrigued,” said Devin Daniels, 28, of San Francisco, who sported a hat
reminiscent of the singer’s headgear in her “Formation” music video. “I’ve followed Beyoncé forever and was of course revved up to come tonight by her recent Coachella performance.”
Since it was announced via a Facebook post two weeks ago, the Beyoncé Mass has made local and international news.
Produced by Grace Cathedral’s contemporary-culture-themed ministry called the Vine, founded by the Rev. Jude Harmon, the Mass is one of a three-part series at Grace called “Speaking Truth: The Power of Story in Community,” which aims to tell stories of those traditionally marginalized in Christianity, such as women and people of color.
The idea sprang from a class called “Beyoncé and the Hebrew Bible” led by the Rev. Yolanda Norton, a San Francisco Theological Seminary assistant professor whose specialty is the Old Testament. One of her students, Sam Lundquist, is a pastoral intern at the cathedral, and a collaboration was born.
For Norton, both the class and the Mass came from a desire to explore female-centric interpretations of the Bible — specifically how biblical texts reflect African American female identity. Her guest sermon Wednesday hit on her key themes.
“When we talk about womanist biblical interpretation, Beyoncé felt like a natural fit,” said Norton. “If we look at the trajectory of her person and her relationships, we can see so many issues black women face and how it can affect how we interpret the text.”
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is one of the world’s best-selling musical artists, with over 100 million records sold and 22 Grammy awards. Her 2016 album “Lemonade,” launched with a Super Bowl half-time performance of “Formation” at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, was her most critically praised and was considered one of the year’s best records. Its release was accompanied by an hourlong film with themes of African American history, revenge, female empowerment, love and forgiveness.
The Grace Cathedral service’s music was predictably from the canon of Beyoncé and her former group Destiny’s Child, starting with the girl group’s hit “Survivor.” Logan McWilliams sang “Listen” from the film “Dreamgirls” with an expanded version of the Vine choir and band.
“I don’t know that Beyoncé necessarily intersects with religion, but religion intersects with everyone, every experience, every hardship and every trial,” McWilliams, 27 said before the service. “Her lyrics speak to that all the time.”
Aside from rock-concert-like purple lighting, a Beyoncé soundtrack playing as the worshipers took their seats and a screen counting down the minutes until the Mass, the service did not differ much from tradition. Bible readings from the book of Luke and Psalms were followed by the Beyoncé songs “Freedom” and “Flaws and All.”
“Empire never falls lightly,” Norton said in her sermon. “Sometimes we call it racism; we call it empire. You call it homophobia; we call it heterosexual aggression; and tonight, we call it empire.”
In the days leading up to the event, Harmon said that although the “majority of responses from members have been overwhelmingly positive,” some objections to the service had been raised via phone calls, email and social media. After some discussion, Grace Cathedral didn’t provide extra security.
After the final live performance of the night to the song “I Was Here,” participants streamed out of the sanctuary back onto California Street into the fading daylight.
Xan West, 38, the student ministry director at Trinity United Methodist Church in Oakland, brought her 5-month-old son, Glory, to the service, “since he’s been listening to her since he was in the womb.”
“I thought it was really great. Hearing Beyoncé with a full band felt like hearing her music in a new way,” West said.
“It’s all about finding the appropriate context,” she said. “Everything Beyoncé has said and produced isn’t appropriate for every venue. But Beyoncé has 20 years of work. Of course you can find things that fit the context of the Mass.”
For Ayana Corbin of Oakland, it was important that the Mass “put black women at the center of the conversation. It’s not something we often see in the mainstream church.” But primarily, she said, “It was really nice to see people of all ages, colors and sizes coming together to worship and have a conversation.”