The Phenomenon of the “U2-charist”
I meant to post about this last week, but it slipped my mind. Check out this USA Today story about Episcopal churches using U2 songs for their communion services.
I’m not sure what I think about this. I love U2 as much as any trying-to-be-cool Christian girl. I have a lot of admiration for Bono’s passion about AIDS and poverty in Africa. I find U2’s songs meaningful to my own spiritual life. And yet something in me squirms about the idea using exclusively U2 songs for a Eucharist service.
Many of U2’s songs are great psalms of our time—often psalms of lament, in particular. But worship is not made of lament-psalms alone. Now, I admit I don’t know every U2 song ever written, but I think they’re fairly weak on songs of praise or dedication (dedication of ourselves, our gifts, etc., to God). And that’s fine, as far as U2 the band goes, because they’re not trying to compose comprehensive worship music. But I think I would find a service with only U2 music lacking in something.
Then there’s the issue that, if you’re playing recordings of U2 songs, your musicians aren’t there, aren’t a part of the local church community. If you do have your own musicians covering U2 songs, then U2-savvy members of the congregation (I initially typed “audience”) will inevitably be comparing this version with the original. And for the non-U2-savvy members . . . well, I don’t know where to start with them, because U2’s songs aren’t the most sing-able. (I do have fun imagining what would happen if the congregation didn’t have the lyrics printed for them, though: I can see each congregant happily warbling away what he or she has always thought are the words to “Pride (In the Name of Love).” But maybe that’s just because I’m a champion at mis-hearing lyrics and making up my own.)
That said, I don’t really see harm in what these churches are trying to do. I’d welcome incorporating the occasional U2 song in a church context, because, as young Natalie Williams says, it becomes different and you hear it in a new way. I can imagine a song like “Grace” or “Yahweh” being particularly effective with other symbolic images or actions accompanying it. And I’ll always recommend U2 music for private devotion and prayer . . . and shoe-shopping (yes, that’s right: “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”).
8 comments October 30th, 2006