‘Beyonce Mass’ organizer Jude Harmon defends event: ‘We’re following in the way of Jesus’

An Episcopalian pastor says a recent “Beyoncé Mass” that has gone viral with help from The Drudge Report was merely “following in the way of Jesus.”

Parishioners flocked to Grace Cathedral on April 25 to hear Rev. Yolanda Norton fuse the teachings of Jesus Christ with the woman behind “I Am Sasha Fierce,” but Pastor Jude Harmon sees it as a non-issue.

“I know there are people who will say using Beyoncé is just a cheap way of trying to get people in the church,” the pastor said in a WND story promoted by media titan Matt Drudge on Monday. “But Jesus used very provocative images in the stories he would tell to incite people to ask hard questions about their own religious assumptions. He regularly provoked. We’re following in the way of Jesus.”

Promotional materials encouraged locals to “sing your Beyoncé favorites and discover how her art opens a window into the lives of the marginalized and forgotten — particularly black females.”

The event drew 900 people compared to 50 individuals on most evenings.

“Our goal is to have a worship experience that honors the fact that we’re all created in the image of God,” Rev. Norton added. “You might want to remind them that God is in all the world and that Beyoncé is made in God’s image. The church has not treated women of color fairly and it is time to face this truth.”

Ben Shapiro’s conservative website The Daily Wire blasted the church’s decision to “honor … the singer who once gave homage to the Black Panthers during a performance.”

Beyoncé was criticized in 2016 for her Super Bowl halftime performance and follow-up video “Formation.” The halftime show featured Black Panther-inspired outfits while the music video gave creative nods to the Black Lives Matter movement that critics called anti-cop.

Graffiti art in the music video, for example, read “Stop Shooting Us.”