On September 5, the U2 tribute band Elevation teamed up with Fourth Church Youth to create a worship experience unlike anything in the over 90 year history of the Fourth Church sanctuary. You can read more about the service here. You can check out a few pictures here.It was definitely a unique experience, and I was somewhat serious that evening when I joked that I hoped to have a job the next morning. Thankfully, I am still the youth pastor at Fourth Church and I look forward to other opportunities to explore alternative worship experiences for youth and others.
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect for this U2charist. We had about 200-250 people there, which isn't bad for the first time trying something, though I had secretly hoped for a packed house.
I worked hard to be sure that the U2 music we used in the service had integrity as worship music, and I think we mostly succeeded. I followed some of the basic contours of previous U2charists, but I made sure to give it a Presbyterian spin and made some different music selections than I had seen before. I also tried to weave the themes of the service together in my sermon, and folks have reported that this worked as well.
In the end, I think this was a great part of our fall kick-off (I know that the youth in attendance loved it) and a great experiment for us here at Fourth. It was moving to see youth and others connect with worship in a way that they hadn't before. It took us a while to loosen up (we are still Presbyterians, after all), but the congregation eventually got into it. The dancing in the aisles and pews didn't happen until the extended "Postlude" at the end, but that's okay. The music was loud in the sanctuary, but our ears eventually stopped ringing.
We were also able to collect a great offering for the PC(USA)’s Self-Development of People ministry, which is a good thing.
Finally, the experience raised lots of important questions about worship. Here are a few thoughts to ponder:
- Can "pop" music like U2 be used in worship in a meaningful way?
- What are those U2 songs really about, anyway?
- Does music need to be specifically written for worship in order to be worshipful or appropriate for worship?
- Is there a line between worship and entertainment? What is it? Does an experience like this blur the line too much?
There are many other I could list, but this will do for now.
In the meantime, for those interested in how we structured the service, here is the order of worship. Enjoy!
Prelude
"Beautiful Day"
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
Welcome
Call to Worship
Song of Praise
"Elevation"
Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
Response
"All Because of You"
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture
Genesis 1:24-31
Psalter
"40"
Scripture
Galatians 3:23-39
Sermon
"The Paradox of One"
Sermon Response
"One"
Apostles Creed
Prayers of the People
Offering
"Love and Peace or Else"
Doxology
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
"Peace on Earth"
"Yahweh"
Sending Song
"Walk On"
Benediction
Postlude
"City of Blinding Lights"
"Vertigo"
"New Year's Day"
"When Love Comes to Town"
"Pride (In The Name of Love)"
"Sunday, Bloody Sunday"
"Where the Streets Have No Name"
