Episcopal Epiphany Church to hold U2-Charist event
Every once in a while, an opportunity knocks on the door of a church and says, “Here’s one for the masses.”
On Nov. 23, the youth and adult choirs of Epiphany Episcopal Church will forego conventional hymns during the traditional Sunday afternoon service. Instead, they will perform songs from the Irish rock band U2.
This unique event is called U2-Charist- a play on the word Eucharist, which is the Holy Communion in the Anglican Church.
The lead singer for U2, Bono, is very outspoken on issues of social injustice and hunger eradication. Bono is one of the founders of DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa, www.data.org), an international organization dedicated to addressing extreme poverty and the AIDS epidemic by educating and empowering people to action.
In conjunction with this event, Epiphany will conduct a canned food drive for local food banks including Cape Coral Caring Center. Everyone in the community is invited to attend regardless of a person’s faith or denomination.
As a part of the DATA initiative, Bono’s U2-Charist gives churches permission to perform his music without royalties in exchange for the church’s support of hunger relief organizations. An Episcopal priest from Maine, the Rev. Paige Blair, came up with the idea and had the first service at her church in 2005.
Many people consider U2 a Christian band, but band members did not want to be labeled as such. May U2 songs have the image of God (referred to as “You”) as loving us adn drawing us closer. Our human hunger for God is also a recurring theme of U2 music, as are issues of social justice and the importance of Christians doing God’s work.
U2 have sold more than 140 million albums worldwide and won 22 Grammy awards, more than any other band. The Epiphany choir and band will perform songs including “Pride in the Name of Love,” “Love Rescue Me,” “When Love Comes to Town,” “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “One.”
The service will be held on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. Epiphany Episcopal Church is located at 2507 Del Prado Blvd. S. (just south of the Midpoint overpass). For more information call 239-574-3200 or go on line to www.epiphanyepiscopalchurch.com.