Christian rap, spoken-word artists among talent to perform concert at Cape church

Christ Church of the Heartland in Cape Girardeau is hosting a concert Saturday evening that mixes live worship music by Cova, acoustic sounds of local duo Templesmith, hip-hop by Nashville-based rapper nobigdyl. and the expressive rhyming of local spoken-word artist Jonathan the Wordsmith.

Jonathan Fleming, one of the organizers of Indie Experience -- who performs as Jonathan the Wordsmith -- said the intention behind the event is multifaceted.

"First, we want obviously everybody that comes, for us to be able to communicate to them how much God loves them and to share the gospel with them," Fleming said.

In addition, Fleming said he also wants to be able to have the opportunity for a "safe avenue" for the community to come together and "have a night that they enjoy."

He said the event would in no way be "morally detrimental," and parents should feel comfortable with their child -- of any age -- attending.

"It is a place where kids can come and their parents know that whenever they're leaving, they aren't leaving worse off than when they came in the door," Fleming said.

nobigdyl. is a Christian hip-hip artist and "his stuff is all clean and safe for all ages," Fleming said, as well as worship leader Cova.

"My stuff is clean, and Templesmith is as well," Fleming said. "Everything is safe and clean for all ages."

He said as planning of the event progressed, he and his team prayed and realized they have a greater opportunity to help the community than just hosting the concert.

Even though "there is a cost to putting this stuff together," Fleming said, which is the reason for selling tickets, he and the other artists involved didn't want the cost of the tickets to "be a hindrance for anybody to be able to experience" at Saturday's show.

"We decided to take roughly half of the tickets we were making available and turning them into what we call 'WI tickets', or wedding invitation tickets, which comes from a parable Jesus taught."

He explained in the parable a wedding feast date was set, invitations were sent, but some were returned with excuses as to why the guests couldn't attend.

Instead of letting the feast go to waste, the host made the wedding feast available to "the poor, the destitute, the crippled and to the homeless."

"Basically, he went out to find anybody who wouldn't have been able to come or otherwise would not have been invited and brought them in so they could experience it as well," Fleming said. "And that's kind of our hearts in these 75 tickets."

Fleming said the tickets are available to people who either would love to come, but for financial reasons wouldn't be able to, or for those "who need something like this the most."

He has contacted Teen Challenge and made tickets available to the organization because, Fleming said, "they're ministering to the broken."

Fleming said he's also contacted the Girardeau Center, which "ministers to at-risk youth who have found themselves in trouble with the law for one reason or another."

He said young people need safe avenues to "be encouraged" and be "poured into" and wants Saturday's concert to encourage and lift up all who attend.

Tickets for Indie Experience at Christ Church of the Heartland, 720 Bertling St., can be purchased for $10 at LifeWay Christian Store and online at jthewordsmith.com.

Doors open at 5 p.m. Saturday and the concert starts at 5:30 p.m.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632