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U2charist adds a rockin' edge to church services

Legions of fans worship U2, but more and more churchgoers are worshipping to the music of one of the world's most popular bands.

Legions of fans worship U2, but more and more churchgoers are worshipping to the music of one of the world's most popular bands.

The number of U2 Eucharist, or U2charist, services has grown since the first service combined the Irish rock band's music and religion in Baltimore in 2004. About a dozen have been performed in the Pittsburgh area in recent years, with Waverly Presbyterian Church hosting its second U2charist tomorrow.

"If you have a love for nontraditional music in church and mission, this is a service for you," said the Rev. Rebecca Hickok, Waverly's pastor. "You get filled up with the spirit of the music, you get filled up with the spirit of advent season, and you get filled up with the grace of the table."

A Eucharist service is one that offers Holy Communion, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Anyone is welcome to attend this weekend's service, Hickok said. Receiving communion is optional.

The beauty of combining U2 with a worship service is that the events often attract people who otherwise might not go to church, said Greg Garrett, 49, an English professor at Baylor University and author of We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel according to U2.

"It appeals to Christians and people who don't follow that faith," Garrett said. "You don't have to be a person of faith to get something powerful or profound out of a U2charist."

While U2's songs often are spiritual - and sometimes overtly Christian - in their message, they also appeal to notions of good and giving, a call to arms and social change, Garrett said.

"Pride (In the Name of Love)" from U2's 1984 album "The Unforgettable Fire" is about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and references Jesus, Garrett said.

"But it's also about love, which is the greatest thing we're called to," he said.

The band allows churches to use its music for free as long as an offering is taken and the money is donated to one of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals, such as ending poverty and hunger or fighting AIDS.

Money from Waverly's service will be used to help provide clean-water systems in Haiti, Hickok said.