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Posted by: David Bunch

We had coffee with friends Bo and Stephany last night and they brought to my attention the fact that some Episcopalian churches are now structuring their services around the music of U2. I was unaware of the U2charist fad, even though it appears that this made news in April of this year.

Ushers handed out earplugs and fluorescent glow sticks for the "U2 Eucharist," a communion service punctuated by the Irish rock band's music. Episcopal parishes from California to Maine have hosted similar events, weaving U2's tunes -laced with biblical references - into the liturgy.Streamers flew over worshippers' heads at the recent gathering in Providence. Children danced by the altar. Plasma-screen TVs illuminated the gothic sanctuary. Some people sang and clapped, while a few looked puzzled.

I have long been fascinated with Bono's spiritually infused lyrics, and have wondered what kind of religious beliefs he holds.

Many Christians have long seen U2's frontman as a latter-day prophet. But the Episcopal Church in the US has been among the first institutional church to recognise the band's power. A few years ago two of its priests edited a book of sermons based on U2 songs entitled Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog.

Bono even spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast this year.

Bono, meanwhile, has told interviewers that he worships God through music. He once belonged to an ascetic Christian community, and in February, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. The band's early tapes were sold in religious bookstores.

But given all of this, one still has to keep in mind that this is a rock n' roll band. One's imagination doesn't have to run very far to figure how they most likely live their lives.

Still, the band members are traditional rock'n'rollers - they swear, drink and sing about sex. It's also not known whether U2 endorses the services using their songs.

Which is my problem with all of this. While I think that the Church or a church must continue to look for relevant ways to reach the un-churched, a line is crossed when we start using rock n' roll music to try and attract people. At best, U2 sings and writes about a spiritual quest in generally Christian terms. But that doesn't make them Christians or endorsable as spokes persons for Christ.

Bitter and sweet water cannot flow from the same fountain.