U2 being used in Episcopal churches services

A communion service based around U2 songs is catching on at a number of Episcopal churches across the U.S., according to USA Today. The service, which is named the U2Charist after both the band and the Eucharist or communion rite, was started by the Reverend Paige Blair, who held the first such service on July 31st, 2005 in York Harbor, Maine. The ceremony mixes songs from the band such as "Pride (In the Name Of Love)" with slides featuring images of historic civil rights activists like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. The service has now spread to 150 churches in 15 states.

Blair told USA Today that the spiritual and Christian messages in many U2 songs made them appropriate for church use, explaining, "Bach and Handel were the popular music of their day, and they had trouble getting played in church...Are we worshiping Bono? Absolutely not. No more so than we worship Martin Luther when we sing 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.'"

The service also includes an offering for Bono's campaign against poverty and AIDS around the globe.

U2 releases a greatest hits collection called U218 Singles on November 21st, which will include the band's recent collaboration with Green Day, "The Saints Are Coming," plus another new song.
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