Monday, January 28, 2008
The U2charist's faithful fans
The service drew in a large number of the diocese's young people.
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Photo by Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
As if they were at a U2 concert instead of a Eucharist service, Joshn Barrett (left), Mariah Clarke and Erin Harden wave cellphones while singing "Where the Streets Have No Name" during the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia's U2charist.
Downstairs at the Hotel Roanoke, 16-year-old Charlie Eckman painstakingly tuned his mandolin.
The teenager from Waynesboro, about to accompany more than 200 youth singers prior to Sunday's celebration of the Eucharist, wasn't nervous about the impending performance, though he qualified his skills. "I've been playing guitar for eight years. Mandolin, a little more than one."
The young singers, from churches all over Southwestern Virginia, were actually providing the prelude for a newfangled type of service whimsically called a "U2charist." Though the idea isn't limited to the Episcopal Church, the denomination was the first to come up with the idea of combining a traditional liturgy with the music of the rock band U2.
Sunday's Communion service, the culmination of the 89th annual council meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, was the first U2charist ever held in Roanoke.
The band's lead singer, Bono, has encouraged such ceremonies. "It's so cool that Bono has made all of the licensing totally royalty-free for worship services where all the collections go for causes to end poverty," said Christie Wills, diocesan communications officer.
Charlie admitted he wasn't that familiar with U2's music prior to his preparations for Sunday -- though there were copies of U2's albums at his house. Whom did they belong to? "My parents."
With more than 700 worshippers of all ages gathered in the hotel's ballroom, a procession carrying candles, banners and a cross entered accompanied by the strains of "(Pride) In the Name of Love," the rock band's 1984 tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
Most attendees stoically sang along as if using traditional hymnals rather than lyric sheets, but here and there an attendee swayed to the music, and the large gathering of youths, all wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the word "ONE" -- a reference to a U2 song -- clapped with the beat.
The eight banners carried by teenagers in the procession referred to the Millennium Development Goals touted by the United Nations. Those goals are a common theme of U2charist ceremonies, intending to raise awareness about global poverty.
Other U2 songs followed -- "Yahweh," "All Because of You," "Crumbs From Your Table" -- alternating with traditional liturgies and readings from the Bible. The Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, elected leader of the national Episcopal Church, gave a sermon that drew on her previous career with the National Marine Fisheries Service to discuss how Jesus called for his disciples to become fishers in a spiritual sense. She advocated efforts to improve life globally, such as a program in Africa that distributes mosquito nets to combat malaria.
The prayers that followed were accompanied by a poignant slide show that included a photo of one of the many vigils held at Virginia Tech after the April 16 shootings.
As Communion began and members of the diocese clustered to socialize, Lynchburg resident Nina Salmon, who organized Sunday's U2charist, talked about how she and her rector, The Rev. Michael Sullivan, first held one of the services at their church last April, by coincidence just after the Tech shootings.
"It ended up being a really powerful way for people to come together and express their grief," she said.
The ceremony featured the Lynchburg group's own innovation, a baptismal font containing glass pebbles. Everyone present was asked to take a pebble from the font and keep it as a way to be reminded of those who live in extreme poverty.
Susan Mead of St. Peters Episcopal Church in Callaway said she appreciated the U2charist approach.
"I'm really enjoying a new way to be spiritual, especially with the presiding bishop here and music that I can move to," she said. "That's kind of rare for an Episcopalian, the moving part."
Meredith Novak of Elliston echoed her sentiment, saying, "I like it as a U2 fan." She expressed concern that older church members would find the experience off-putting.
Judging by the reactions of Roanoke residents Vera Johnson, 80, and Wilma Warren, 81, Novak had no reason to worry.
Johnson called the service exhilarating. "There's so many young people."
"That is the story," added Warren. "I love all these young people here. ... The church is really alive and well."
As the final song, "Where the Streets Have No Name," started to play, members of the crowd waved their arms, as did Bishop Neff Powell of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. Rocky Mount rector John Gardner danced with his 15-month-old son Boyden in his arms.
And at the front of the ballroom, Charlie Eckman stood at a microphone, playing along with the famous rock riff on his mandolin.
