Beyoncé Mass

Northwestern University will welcome “Beyoncé Mass,” a groundbreaking Christian worship service that celebrates the spirituality of Black women. The service is sponsored by NU’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and the African American Studies Department, along with Garrett’s Center for the Church and the Black Experience, Office of Student Life and the Chapel.

The service uses the music and life of Beyoncé to cultivate an empowering conversation about Black women and create an experience of story, scripture and song that calls for the liberation of all people. The womanist ethic that undergirds the mass will explore the ways that communities find strength, joy, and ingenuity in spite of the obstacles in society. The mass focuses on how marginalized communities, especially Black women, are a manifestation of God’s love in the world.

Created and curated by Reverend Yolanda Norton, Visiting Professor at Moravian Theological Seminary and founder of the Global Arts and Theology Experience (GATE), the inaugural Beyoncé Mass drew roughly 1,000 people at its inaugural event at San Francisco’s historic Grace Cathedral in April 2018. Since then, the worship service has traveled to Los Angeles, CA, Lisbon, Portugal, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, etc.

Free tickets are available in advance through the Norris Box Office (online and in-person). Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. and the worship service begins at 5:00 p.m.