www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Episcopal Church plays U2 during service?

I am reluctant to criticize the traditions of the different Christian denominations. But the Episcopal Church may have crossed the line. Playing U2 during services??

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060414/ap/d8gvlbe87.html

Don't get me wrong. I really like U2 and know their history of moving from a Christian rock band to a mainstream rock band, much to the chagrin of drummer Larry Mullen amd the delight of bassist Adam Clayton.

While I hope this article lacks any credibility, it is significant to observe that the source listed is the Associated Press.

JP

Shouldn't it be the other way around - the Church bringing Herself into the world, not the other way around?

I just finished typing this topic and turned on to internet radio from Dublin, www.phantomfm.com. [phantomfm.com.]

Guess what song they played next? Seconds, recorded in 1983 and considered one of U2's best Christian rock songs.

Presumably, purely coincidental.

I suppose if you can't have the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist the next best thing is Bono. :rolleyes:

I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing this is some Roman Catholic parishes. Sadly, I'm guessing not very long.

Rock Masses were all the go back in the 70s. They did not work for the C of E then so I doubt if they will do anything this time round. They must have run out of ideas to recycle this.

ICXC
NIKA

I try to refrain from posting during Holy Week, but he was right about one thing, "we have to grow if we are to survive". The questions survive to be what? None distinguishable from the world around us. NOT a fan of POOP oops I mean pop liturgy.
Stephanos I
Now back to the tranquility and reflection of the season.

Gotta give my $0.02 on this one..having been raised RC and spent a good portion of my adult life as an Episcopalian.."rock massses" were invented by RC's, they were holding them in the 70's when I was a kid. This is no different from the atmosphere at Teen Life Masses.

U2 probably has the record for most Biblical references in there songs http://www.atu2.com/lyrics/biblerefs.html and even though I'm a guy that still rocks out to Zeppelin, Cream and Hendrix, I positively NEVER want to hear that kind of music in church.

That must have been RCs in the USA because the ones who made their name for Rock Masses here were the C of E. The Angican Dean of Perth (Western Australia) was well known to all and sundry for organising them. He went on to be a very conservative Bishop elsewhere in south eastern Australia.

ICXC
NIKA

Lawrence:

I agree with you 1000%

Could you imagine going to Church and listening to Ozzy Osbourne?

Letting the teenagers have their own Mass where one teenager plays folk guitar, another plays bass, another plays drums, and several handle the vocals is one thing.

Playing U2, Zeppelin, Cream, Hendrix, Ozzy, et al. is totally bizzare.

JP

Now I have to put in my two cents...for all it's worth.

I don't believe that when this music is played it should be called a Mass...or liturgy for that matter. But if it draws in the teenagers, why not have it and call it a service of some type or other.

Now I'm saying this, because most young people require a certain amount of spiritual growth before they can appreciate our liturgy. In the mean time, they are listening to lyrics they shouldn't be listening to; and that is from morning until night...or to be more truthful, from nightfall until morning.

I'm thinking more in terms of Christian bands and singers.

Zenovia

Lawrence:

You have good taste in music. If you like new, indie music, you should listen to the new CD by Gorillaz. Kind of a mix of indie, hip-hop, and Japanese traditional music, with backing by a symphony orchestra.

I saw their concert broadcast live on the internet last week. Great music and great videos. The four person band plays behind a screen so you only see their silhouettes. The center of the stage is a huge screen for the video of the song being played, to the left is the chorus, mostly of kids under 14 years of age, and to the right is the orchestra. The singer or rapper is at the very front of the stage.

Gorillaz reminds me of Beck, but to a much larger scale. The female singer is a cross between Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and Aretha Franklin.

Check it out for yourself. You may want to see and listen to the video Feel Good, Inc. before deciding to buy the CD.

JP

Excellent post, Carole! Bono is no substitute for the Real Presence.

I do admire Bono. There are people who do much less valuable things with their wealth and fame. He seems to have avoided gross scandal in a field were gross scandal sells albums.

I also admire U2's decidedly Christian morality expressed through music, especially in their earlier work. Some of what those guys have come up with is more "correct" than a lot of the sappier modern "hymns" that have found their way into Roman Catholic churches. For example, much as I appreciate the sentiment and legend behind the writing of "Amazing Grace" and think it is quite beautiful, it is nevertheless representative of a theological viewpoint not my own and not that of the church I belong to. (And politically correct people seem to like to edit the word "wretch" out, which I find really ridiculous - if you are going to sing the song, sing the song. I for one, have no problem admitting to be a "wretch.")

I don't think U2 is church music at all, but I admit that I 100% prefer their rendition of "40" to modern spiritual songs like "On Eagles Wings." I'm not a fan of the sappier songs or of the kind of sentiments, albeit taken from Scripture, that tend to find themselves reproduced on 1970s style felt banners.

But, okay, truthfully, I prefer to hear traditional Latin hymns in Roman Catholic churches. Part of the experience of church music, the way I've always seen it, is to help you remove your mind from the mundane and everyday world and help you to dwell on higher things.

Ah, just throw them into chanting. Teens can be very communal and tribal as part of their makeup, so chanting usually works.

My two bits are in.

Dear Nathan,

Your post gave me a good laugh. I hope it was meant to.

Zenovia