RALEIGH, N.C.--People gathered to take communion at the Church of the Good Shepherd.  But Bishop Michael Curry says this is no ordinary Sunday service.

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“The Holy Communion service is Eucharist, but what they’ve done is taken U2’s music and message and combined it with the Holy Communion celebration.  And they call it U2charist.”

 

Bishop Curry says U2’s melodies reflect the top mission priority of the Episcipal Church: helping the estimated 1.1 billion people who are living in extreme poverty, by “feeding those who are hungry, clothing those who are naked, helping to redress injustices, and transforming the world from the nightmare that it often is for many, into the dream God intends for it.”

 

They are starting to work toward that transformation in Botswana.  All the money from the U2charist collection plate will go to their companion diocese in the African nation to help fight extreme poverty and hunger, reduce child mortality, and improve education.

 

 “The real intent is to take the message of Bono and others like him, which is really a fundamental Christian message of not only doing for others, but doing the kinds of things Jesus did and calls us to do,” Bishop Curry said. 

 

Church leaders say language from the scriptures runs throughout many of U2’s lyrics.  For example, lyrics from the song “Miracle Drug” say “I was a stranger, you took me in.”  Matthew 25:35 reads, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.  I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”

 

Another example can be found in the song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”  Bono sings “I have spoken with the tongues of angels.”  First Corinthians 13:1 says “If I speak the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”

 

Church of the Good Shepherd member Jan Harris says those similarities help all types of people relate to the scriptures.

 

“I think it’s a real neat chance to get people from all kinds of backgrounds and all kinds of philosophies together,” Jan said.

 

Bishop Curry adds “You’ve got people coming together, both to worship God here in the church, and to worship God in the world by doing the work of God.”

 

He says they’re striving to help human kind in the name of love.