Something from the email…

Posted on by

I got this a while back and tried to block it out. But then a seminary friend (a non-Episcopalian) emailed me to see if I had gotten it and wondering why in the world he had. I told him it was an evangelistic outreach to those of a “younger” generation. You know, those of us without false teeth.

I admit to hating these sorts of things with a passion, not so much because they use different types of music, but because plays into so much bad thinking in our religious culture today. And I absolutely hate the moniker “U2charist,” and see it as illustrating very well an underlying frivolity and disrespect toward the Lord’s Supper

Maybe I’m just a stick in the mud, but I went through one of that during my EFM training my senior year at Sewanee, and it was enough to make me believe in purgatory. Here’s the email:

All Saints’ Chapel at the University of the South invites you to a special “U2CHARIST” service on April 13, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. in Sewanee, Tenn. The U2CHARIST – named after the rock band U2 and the Holy Eucharist – incorporates the Irish performers’ music and lyrics with the traditional elements of the Episcopal Church service. The music in this service is replete with the message of global reconciliation, justice for the poor and oppressed, and the importance of caring for one’s neighbor, particularly the most vulnerable and most in need.

The goal of U2CHARIST services is to help educate the public about the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Episcopal Church’s ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. Global MDG ambassador Bono, the lead singer of U2, is calling people worldwide to a deeper faith and engagement with God’s mission.

MDGs were adopted by the United Nations in 2000, when it pledged to eradicate extreme poverty and disease by the year 2015. Offerings collected during the service will be given to an organization that works to support the Millennium Development Goals. Canned goods will be collected and donated to local food banks. Last year’s event in Sewanee raised over $4,600 to support the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment, an international group located in Haiti, and the Community Action Committee, a Sewanee outreach program that offers groceries, assistance with utility bills, and financial counseling to those in need.

Questions? Please contact: Peg Palisano, Church Communicat ions Director

The School of Theology

931.598.1577

ppalisan@sewanee.edu

Now, all these are laudable goals. But couldn’t they be pursued without such kitsch? In honor of the Sewanee “U2charist” I offer you the site for the rest of us: Bono Fatigue

  • http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=47234928 Ayesha Lakhani

    The MDG is gaining momemtum in its initiative.
    It wants general masses to stand up and speak out.
    PLease do participate.

  • Hotspur

    Padre,

    With respect…It was this type of Rite 3ish service that brought some of us lost souls back into the light side of the force :-)

    Ok…many of us wound up becoming Unitarians (and Jews) after the leaving the Domain… but at least we got touched by the church.

    Old hockey saying: garbage goals count.

  • http://adamantius.net Jody+

    Hotspur,

    Thanks for your comment!

    I’m not denying that God can work through things of this sort… it’s just not my bag, and I think there is a certain disrespect inherent in it. I know at least one very committed Christian who came to the faith through St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal in San Fran, a hotbed of liturgies that make U2charists look traditional. God worked there (I believe) in spite of the mixed messages sent by the service. I also believe there is a place for congregations with varied points of view–I actually find it a positive thing that there are “progressive” congregations in the Episcopal Church wherin people who might not otherwise hear the gospel at all feel welcome. But generally speaking, even if their social stances and their understandings of the implications of the Gospel don’t always line up with mine, I find that they *do* take the gospel seriously. I’m not sure these sorts of services do (and just to be fair, I’m not sure folks like Joel Osteen etc… take the implications of the gospel seriously either…it doesn’t just go one way)

    I also think that while there are a number of aspects to the mission of the Church, if those touched by the mission do end up rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord (or never seeing him as such in the first place), then we as the Church have not accomplished our most important task.

    God bless

  • http://adamantius.net Jody+

    Also, I’m fine with using contemporary music… I wouldn’t mind using U2, Ben Harper, etc… in a worship setting–however, using all one band and naming the service in such a kitschy way just sets my teeth on edge.