U2charist: church to replace hymns with hits

Last Updated: Monday, January 29, 2007 | 4:58 PM ET

CBC Arts

Some Church of England parishioners will replace church hymns with chart-topping hits this spring at an adapted service dubbed a "U2charist."

The U2charist service will discuss reducing world povert5y, one of U2 frontman Bono's main causes.
(Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

St. Swithin's Church, located in the central English town of Lincoln, will host the adapted religious ceremony featuring the music of Irish rockers U2 this May, Rev. Timothy Ellis, Bishop of Grantham, said Monday in announcing plans for the service.

The eucharist ceremony will be traditional, but stripped-down, he said. Instead of the usual hymns, the congregation will sing a few of the band's biggest hits, including Mysterious Ways and Beautiful Day.

The service will also be accompanied by a live band and will include a sophisticated light and a video system, featuring visual images of poverty and drought.

The special mass is being held to shine a light on reducing poverty in the developing world —  a cause dear to U2 lead singer Bono — and to offer a fresh, less rigid, updated way for people to worship, Ellis said.

Rev. Robert Brooks prepares for communion under a projection of U2 lyrics during a U2charist service in Providence, R.I. in 2006.
(Steven Senne/Associated Press)

The BBC is planning to record the service for broadcast and Ellis said he hopes the event will be replicated by other parishes across England.

The upcoming mass is not the first of its kind, although it is believed to be the first in the U.K.

The U2charist was created by Sarah Dylan Breuer, with the first public service held in Baltimore, Me., in 2004.