'I Just Want to Bring Souls to Christ': How One Brooklyn Pastor is Using Social Media to Spread the Word of God
It’s not everyday that a man of the cloth goes viral for participating in a TikTok dance challenge. And it’s even rarer when it happens twice. But this was the case for Brooklyn pastor Quason Durant.
On the first Sunday in March last year, Durant, who goes by the name Q the Prophet, then 43, having been “led by the Holy Spirit”, decided it was the perfect time to execute the choreography for the buzzing “We a Run e Grung” challenge – a censored Jamaican dancehall tune – all while wearing his clerical collar in his church's lobby.
The spirit was right. Just one hour after posting to his social media, with the caption, "How pastors in Brownsville, BK give it up", the video had over 100 likes.
But it wasn’t until Brooklyn rapper and former contestant on MTV’s “Making the Band” Babs Bunny, along with the song's original artist, NADG, and producers, shared the video to their social media that it gained traction.
Today, the video has over 51,000 views.
Yet, despite a welcome increase of a few thousand social media followers, the elder at Empowerment Church NYC says it was never his intention to go viral.
"Because we’re in a digital age now, we have to be really innovative with how we reach people. We’re in post-pandemic church, whereas the church has always been the brick-and-mortar. But now we’re in the click-and-order, so when people can’t physically come to church, they can watch it online," he says.
“The Bible says we’re the light of the world, a city on a hill that’s not hidden. I’m not here to be famous, I’m here to make the Father famous. I’m utilising my purpose and every moment just to reach souls and to reach the masses.
“I just want to bring souls to Christ.”
In fact, almost exactly one year later, on the first Sunday of last month, Q the Prophet posted yet another video of himself doing a dance challenge - this time the "Jiggy Woogie" - which has garnered over 200k views, to date.
And while the dance moves are in no way suggestive, it was still a pleasant surprise for the retired dancer to have support from old and new followers.
“There were all sorts of people saying stuff like, ‘Pastor, you killed it,’ Pastor got moves,’ ‘Pastor, you ate that,’ and just lots of others showing love and recognising it as a way to bring people back to church," he says.
“Even my archbishop and his wife enjoyed it. They see it as a way of reaching young people because majority of the church is on TikTok. Like, some kid would say, ‘Yo, Pastor Q just did a thing on social that went viral,’ then next thing I know they’re bringing their friends to my church."
He also noted how a young man who had been battling depression for years reached out to him on Instagram after seeing his most recent video to thank him for giving him hope to face a brighter day.
In fact, ministering to young people is part of Q the Prophet's mission. Born to Guyanese parents in South Jamaica, Queens, he found himself doing "whatever was needed" to survive in his youth as he bounced between both parents' homes.
However, after a narrow escape, he gave his life to Christ at the age of fourteen and was called into ministry a year later where he preached his first sermon.
At 19, he moved to Brooklyn, just one hour southwest of the birthplace of hip hop, the Bronx, and found his calling through rap, ultimately striking a chord in the Christian hip hop genre.
Just three months after his first video went viral, Q the Prophet, who already had an Associate of Arts in Biblical Studies, graduated with a Bachelor of Theology.
“It was important for me to go back to school and get my degree,” he says, adding that he was inspired by his older brother's academic achievements in theology. "Now, when I’m preaching the Word, I’m not preaching falsely or falling into what a lot of pastors fall into – false doctrine – because they misinterpret the scriptures.
“This way, I’m more effective in my delivery and in the kingdom, preaching the truth of God and the simplicity of God’s Word without compromise.”
Since graduating, Q the Prophet, now 44, has achieved a wealth of goals.
He enrolled in a master’s program in clinical counselling, received his status as a peace officer in the city and state of New York, and hosted a 50th anniversary of hip hop event where he got to present an award to one of his heroes, legendary rapper Kurtis Blow.
And he also gets to fulfil his childhood dream of being a deejay part-time.
Q the Prophet continues to minister to his community through outreach programmes, and plans to complete a doctorate in psychology, open his own church “in due season according to the Lord’s timing”, and release his first Christian rap album in fourteen years.
The rapper, whose last album was "Soul Hustler's Diary: The Autobiography On Wax", says his new album will "address some topics the church is too scared to talk about".
“I had to go through some things a few years ago in order to talk about certain things on this project," he says. “But I think it’s important that I’m still creative, even though I’ve taken some steps forward in ministry, it’s important that people still see the artist side of me.”
With a starting five of KRS-One, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, and Slick Rick – along with Minister Michael Peace, who is considered the godfather of Christian hip hop, and Pastor Marty Grace – Q the Prophet says the day of the “celebrity preacher” is over.
“God spoke to me a lot in 2020, and a lot of things that we’re seeing now is a season of exposure," he says. "A lot of times when people aren’t in line with God’s word, God allows them to be exposed. The day of the celebrity preacher is over."
And to those who still don’t believe rap and hip hop belong in the church, Q the Prophet says, “Read 1 Cor 1:27: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
“Rap’s original meaning is to talk. It is evangelistic because we are able to reach those who the traditional pulpit pastor can’t reach. So, at the end of the day, I plant the message, local pastors water it, but it’s God who brings the increase.”
