some Episcopal Church services, hymns are out and U2 is in. The popular Irish rock band's songs blared from speakers at a recent "U2 Eucharist Service" in Providence, Rhode Island, where 130 worshippers were offered fluorescent glow sticks and earplugs.
Priest Robert Brooks said the service was meant to attract young people and those interested in social activism. The strategy appears to be working well, as Episcopal parishes from California to Maine are weaving U2's music into the denomination's traditional liturgy.
But Whis Hays, also an Episcopal priest and head of the Pennsylvania-based "Rock the World" Youth Mission Alliance, says such services have taken place in the Episcopal denomination for a long time. "Going back to the 80s, I was actually using U2's rendition of the 40th Psalm, which is their song 'Forty,' in services that I was in charge of," he notes.
"So, from the perspective of whether the music could be used in a liturgy that the Episcopal Church has," he continues, "been there done that."
AgapePress
3 comments:
Been going on for years in all denominations. No big news.
Not in any of the churches I've been in. The first time my priest says "Now let's turn our attention to the Rattle and Hum Album" I'm walking out.
Mainline Protestantism jumped the shark years ago, this is just further proof.
-Anony
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