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Church blends music of U2 in traditional service
Independence, MO —
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
Is the singer of these lyrics proclaiming his feelings toward a romantic or a spiritual relationship?
Twelve years after the song’s release, in 1999, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” was used in the opening scene of the Julia Roberts’ movie “Runaway Bride” as she runs away, on horseback, from a wedding.
But for Mitch Jarvis, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Independence, the song’s spiritual connection is clear.
“It’s a song about the brokenness that we feel together,” Jarvis says. “We would say that there are a lot of people in the world today who are looking and searching and trying with everything they have to fill a void, but they still haven’t found what that something is.”
The song, one in a string of hits by the Irish rock band U2, was included in a combined Maundy Thursday service on the Square this week.
Now in his early 40s, Jarvis first heard U2’s post-punk music while in junior high school. He describes the band as “the Beatles of his generation.”
The Dublin-based rock group formed in 1976 when its four founding members – all of whom are still part of U2 today – were just 15- and 16-year-old boys. As a teenager, Jarvis listened to the band during a time when the band quietly released its albums “Boy” and “October.”
Twenty-five years ago, though, U2 took off worldwide with the release of “The Joshua Tree” – and that’s when Jarvis says his appreciation for the group deepened, as well. He says he was drawn to the four members’ awareness of the world and their social consciousness toward issues like poverty.
With their close proximity on the Square, First United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church and First Christian Church come together to celebrate Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, among other holy days throughout the year.
And, with First United Methodist Church as the host for Maundy Thursday, Jarvis wanted to try something new – but not completely unique – with U2charist.
In the summer of 2005, the Rev. Paige Blair, an Episcopal priest in Maine, came up with the idea for U2charist and held the first service at her church, according to a 2006 USA Today article. Following her initial service, Blair consulted with several hundred churches in multiple states and countries for similar U2charist services in their congregations.
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
Is the singer of these lyrics proclaiming his feelings toward a romantic or a spiritual relationship?
Twelve years after the song’s release, in 1999, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” was used in the opening scene of the Julia Roberts’ movie “Runaway Bride” as she runs away, on horseback, from a wedding.
But for Mitch Jarvis, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Independence, the song’s spiritual connection is clear.
“It’s a song about the brokenness that we feel together,” Jarvis says. “We would say that there are a lot of people in the world today who are looking and searching and trying with everything they have to fill a void, but they still haven’t found what that something is.”
The song, one in a string of hits by the Irish rock band U2, was included in a combined Maundy Thursday service on the Square this week.
Now in his early 40s, Jarvis first heard U2’s post-punk music while in junior high school. He describes the band as “the Beatles of his generation.”
The Dublin-based rock group formed in 1976 when its four founding members – all of whom are still part of U2 today – were just 15- and 16-year-old boys. As a teenager, Jarvis listened to the band during a time when the band quietly released its albums “Boy” and “October.”
Twenty-five years ago, though, U2 took off worldwide with the release of “The Joshua Tree” – and that’s when Jarvis says his appreciation for the group deepened, as well. He says he was drawn to the four members’ awareness of the world and their social consciousness toward issues like poverty.
With their close proximity on the Square, First United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church and First Christian Church come together to celebrate Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, among other holy days throughout the year.
And, with First United Methodist Church as the host for Maundy Thursday, Jarvis wanted to try something new – but not completely unique – with U2charist.
In the summer of 2005, the Rev. Paige Blair, an Episcopal priest in Maine, came up with the idea for U2charist and held the first service at her church, according to a 2006 USA Today article. Following her initial service, Blair consulted with several hundred churches in multiple states and countries for similar U2charist services in their congregations.
On the surface, many U2 lyrics may be interpreted as applying toward
love and relationships. Upon closer examination, the band’s lyrical
content includes social and political commentary, as well as spiritual
undertones.
Like “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” several U2 songs were prominently displayed in ’90s movies and TV shows in scenes involving romantic relationships. “With or Without You” was featured in several episodes of the popular TV series “Friends” in the mid-1990s as two of the main characters came to terms with their troubled relationship.
Incidentally, these two songs also were part of Thursday’s service, their lyrics this time taking a more spiritual – but not explicitly Christian – interpretation.
But missing from the Maundy Thursday program were U2 songs with titles that are clearly more spiritually based than others, including “Yahweh,” “If God Will Send Us His Angels,” “Peace On Earth” and “In God’s Country.”
“I just didn’t think they would connect,” Jarvis says of why they weren’t included. “I just thought the other songs were more accessible.”
In Independence, the First UMC worship band performed two U2 songs while the rest of the music came through recordings and videos. Despite his strong admiration for U2, Thursday marked the first time that Jarvis had experienced a U2charist service. First United Methodist Church changed up the format a bit from the original, especially when Jarvis to make it part of Maundy Thursday.
A big part of Maundy Thursday, Jarvis says, is Jesus’ sense of community with those around him and his example of service. In conjunction with the music of U2, an awareness of poverty issues worldwide and in Eastern Jackson County was raised, and the evening’s offering went to Hillcrest Transitional Housing.
And with his idea of incorporating popular rock music into a worship service, Jarvis says he felt nervous and excited – for the same reasons – about how parishioners and his fellow congregation members alike might react.
“I don’t know that anything quite like this has ever been tried in this kind of setting,” Jarvis says, “so I’m nervous about that, but I’m also excited about that because nothing like this has ever really been tried here.”
A U2 fan since the early 1990s, First Presbyterian Church Pastor Dave Carlson, like Jarvis, never thought he’d attend a church service built around the band’s music. Carlson said he wasn’t nervous before Thursday’s service.
Like “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” several U2 songs were prominently displayed in ’90s movies and TV shows in scenes involving romantic relationships. “With or Without You” was featured in several episodes of the popular TV series “Friends” in the mid-1990s as two of the main characters came to terms with their troubled relationship.
Incidentally, these two songs also were part of Thursday’s service, their lyrics this time taking a more spiritual – but not explicitly Christian – interpretation.
But missing from the Maundy Thursday program were U2 songs with titles that are clearly more spiritually based than others, including “Yahweh,” “If God Will Send Us His Angels,” “Peace On Earth” and “In God’s Country.”
“I just didn’t think they would connect,” Jarvis says of why they weren’t included. “I just thought the other songs were more accessible.”
In Independence, the First UMC worship band performed two U2 songs while the rest of the music came through recordings and videos. Despite his strong admiration for U2, Thursday marked the first time that Jarvis had experienced a U2charist service. First United Methodist Church changed up the format a bit from the original, especially when Jarvis to make it part of Maundy Thursday.
A big part of Maundy Thursday, Jarvis says, is Jesus’ sense of community with those around him and his example of service. In conjunction with the music of U2, an awareness of poverty issues worldwide and in Eastern Jackson County was raised, and the evening’s offering went to Hillcrest Transitional Housing.
And with his idea of incorporating popular rock music into a worship service, Jarvis says he felt nervous and excited – for the same reasons – about how parishioners and his fellow congregation members alike might react.
“I don’t know that anything quite like this has ever been tried in this kind of setting,” Jarvis says, “so I’m nervous about that, but I’m also excited about that because nothing like this has ever really been tried here.”
A U2 fan since the early 1990s, First Presbyterian Church Pastor Dave Carlson, like Jarvis, never thought he’d attend a church service built around the band’s music. Carlson said he wasn’t nervous before Thursday’s service.
“I think it’ll speak for itself and touch people in a way that’s
meaningful to them,” Carlson says. “Whether it is everyone’s cup of tea
or not as far as how they prefer to worship, I still think they’ll get
something out of it.”
Throughout history, different denominations of Christianity have contemporized parts of their service. Jarvis cites 16th century Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who compiled the Book of Common Prayer in English, not Latin, in order to make prayer more accessible.
“We’re at such a time right now where the church has got to rethink our expression of faith so that we’re more accessible to newer generations of people,” Jarvis says. “This is an unapologetic attempt to do just that...”
Donna Rose-Heim, the transitional pastor at First Christian Church, says seeing the Gospel speak in new ways is always a positive experience. For those who weren’t as connected to the music, she says, they still felt connected through more traditional elements of the service, such as communion and the washing of the hands.
“I always thought it was good that I saw a lot more younger people at this event than I normally would,” Rose-Heim says. “The message of Jesus has lasted more than 2,000 years because it’s speaking to whatever generation we’re in. I’m really grateful to the people who came to connect and to worship even though that music wasn’t necessarily their thing because they knew the younger people needed to hear the Gospel. I really appreciated that.”
Jarvis wanted parishioners to experience surprise from the music, to have it speak to them in ways they weren’t expecting. Following the service, Jarvis says it went just as he had thought it would and was pleased overall with the positive feedback he received.
“I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to the Christian holidays,” says Vicky Reuter, a First United Methodist Church member who also sings in the worship band. “I was kind of wondering what U2 music had to do with Maundy Thursday, but they tweaked the service enough to make it fit into that, so I was pleasantly surprised.”
Bill Czeschin, a member of First Christian Church who attended Thursday’s service with his wife, Mary, had a similar reaction.
“I think something different is OK,” he says, “as long as you stick with the basics.”
For Jarvis, the chance was one well worth taking.
“It’s kind of risky,” he says, “but in a no-risk environment.”
Throughout history, different denominations of Christianity have contemporized parts of their service. Jarvis cites 16th century Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who compiled the Book of Common Prayer in English, not Latin, in order to make prayer more accessible.
“We’re at such a time right now where the church has got to rethink our expression of faith so that we’re more accessible to newer generations of people,” Jarvis says. “This is an unapologetic attempt to do just that...”
Donna Rose-Heim, the transitional pastor at First Christian Church, says seeing the Gospel speak in new ways is always a positive experience. For those who weren’t as connected to the music, she says, they still felt connected through more traditional elements of the service, such as communion and the washing of the hands.
“I always thought it was good that I saw a lot more younger people at this event than I normally would,” Rose-Heim says. “The message of Jesus has lasted more than 2,000 years because it’s speaking to whatever generation we’re in. I’m really grateful to the people who came to connect and to worship even though that music wasn’t necessarily their thing because they knew the younger people needed to hear the Gospel. I really appreciated that.”
Jarvis wanted parishioners to experience surprise from the music, to have it speak to them in ways they weren’t expecting. Following the service, Jarvis says it went just as he had thought it would and was pleased overall with the positive feedback he received.
“I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to the Christian holidays,” says Vicky Reuter, a First United Methodist Church member who also sings in the worship band. “I was kind of wondering what U2 music had to do with Maundy Thursday, but they tweaked the service enough to make it fit into that, so I was pleasantly surprised.”
Bill Czeschin, a member of First Christian Church who attended Thursday’s service with his wife, Mary, had a similar reaction.
“I think something different is OK,” he says, “as long as you stick with the basics.”
For Jarvis, the chance was one well worth taking.
“It’s kind of risky,” he says, “but in a no-risk environment.”
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