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July 09, 2007

why U2 ?

I've been a U2 fan for over twenty years, and a fan of their concerts since I attended my first one in 1984. As I've blogged about on Grace Notes, I've learned a great deal from U2 about leading worship in a way that invites people to participate fully (for example, as I often note, U2 does not have to pass out concert bulletins or flash anything on the screen saying, "The crowd shouts: NO MORE!" during "Sunday Bloody Sunday"; it's possible and even desirable to cue people as to what's going on in ways other than instructions printed in a text). I'd wanted for years to demonstrate what I've learned about liturgy from U2 concerts, and then the publication of Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog created what seemed to be a "perfect storm" of interest in U2, liturgy, and church participation in God's mission of justice for the poor. So I suggested to the Without Walls network for 'emerging church' liturgy in the Diocese of Maryland that we do a "U2charist" showing a number of different ways that U2's music in particular could be used in liturgy to gather and energize people for God's mission. That first U2charist was held on April 17, 2004, in Baltimore, Maryland.

I had no idea at the time that the term "U2charist" or the model for the service would catch on so widely and so quickly. The Without Walls team continued to hold services in the model of the first U2charist, which caught on rapidly throughout 2004 and 2005 -- especially after the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland chose to make the capstone liturgy for their 2004 clergy conference a U2charist. Though some of these services including music from other bands (e.g., Switchfoot), by then the name "U2charist" had caught on so widely across the U.S. and attracted interest in other parts of the world that it was being used both for services in which all music was from or adapted from U2's songs (e.g., those who went to the June 2007 U2charist in Dearborn, Michigan, heard a Psalm arrangement I wrote with the Rev. Canon Lisa Gray that uses adapted Anglican chant for the BCP psalter's text of Psalm 40 and the chorus of U2's "40" as the antiphon, sung by the congregation; I plan to post an MP3 of this as soon as I can record it) and for services in the model of the first U2charist but with music from a variety of artists.

Personally, I think the name "U2charist" best describes a service of the Eucharist that mostly or entirely uses music from or inspired by U2, but I don't oppose people using the name for any service that uses at least some music from U2, blesses and shares bread and wine (or grape juice) in remembrance of Jesus' ministry, and intentionally focuses on God's mission of justice for the poor -- and in any case, the Creative Commons license under which I've released all liturgical work I've done doesn't require anyone to get permission from me to use my name (all it requires is that my work not be attributed to someone else, and that any published liturgies, press releases, and so on give credit as appropriate, lest I be accused of stealing my own ideas). I think there are many artists who have produced music that fits well with the aims and genre of a U2charist, and I encourage people to do liturgically whatever will best energize the congregation gathered to participate in God's mission.

July 9, 2007 in U2charist F.A.Q. | Permalink

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