U2 Can Celebrate Christmas
U2 Themed Flyer from Heritage Church(Click to embiggen to full res 300 dpi scan.)
A couple weeks ago I received this flyer for Heritage Church, one of the local churches which meets in a rented high school facility.
To quote from the flyer:
Just what does the biggest band in the world have to say about things like faith, hope, joy and peace on earth? I think if you look closer you’d be surprised…
Join us this Christmas season for four weeks as we investigate and unpack the music of U2. We’ll explore the themes, lyrics and Biblical messages found in some of their most popular and enduring songs. You will come away inspired this Christmas… possibly with a new appreciation for U2, but more importantly, for the amazing story and meaning of Christmas. Come check us out, if you’re ready to really rock around the Christmas tree!
[…]
Please note that the band U2 will not be appearing at Heritage Church, but their music will be there.
Looking a bit further, it seems that MTV has picked up on this, and it is being called U2Charist. Per Wikipedia:
A U2Charist (also spelled eU2charist) is a communion service, or Eucharist, accompanied by U2 songs in lieu of traditional hymns and sometimes as part or all of the service music.
There’s a church that meets back in some office park off 10 Mile here that was bombarding me with door hangers, letters, and postcards about a year back I guess? Anyway one of the door hangers they left had the Barrel Full Of Monkeys game pictured and said something like “Our church is even more fun than this!”
This is the place: http://www.scruffychurch.com/
Wow. They are sure trying to hit on the late 90s alterna-folk religion stuff. This is like a flashback to some people I worked with in the late 90s.
Yeah, it’s not my cup of Kool-Aid, that’s for damn sure.
So does that mean they’ll play “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”?
I guess that the church is having problem maintaining attendances – and having vaguely alternarock concerts, tag team wrestling and other typically secular activities in a church setting is the way to get more people to attend. Of course, if you’re a charismatic teleevangelist, with a global donationbucket network..erm..megachurch, then you must be pulling in enough people to be able to put in for this:
http://www.ashutt.myzen.co.uk/stuff/dove_one_brochure.pdf
$36 million dollars.
Money well spent when you consider how many people will benefit..literally two dozen every time it takes off (assuming it still has all the seats fitted as standard).
And it’s not like people are starving around the world, or we’re on the cusp of possible global climate disaster through heating up the planet or collapse of modern civilisation from dependance on oil is it? Thank goodness there’s so much progressive thinking in the modern church! ;)