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| St. Mark's Church in East Longmeadow will be hosting a free public service know as a "U2charist" on Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. The purpose of the service is to raise awareness of the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History and the Millennium Development Goals, and will feature the music of the Irish rock band, U2, in place of hymns. U2charists have become a phenomenon both in the U.S. and now overseas. The originator of the concept, Rev. Paige Blair from York, ME, will soon be featured with her parish on an upcoming BBC documentary. Blair estimates that over 6,000 people have attended U2charists worldwide, and that there are already at least 30 scheduled for 2007 in areas as far away as Hong Kong and New Zealand. St. Mark's caught onto the movement when parishioners attended a service in Sutton, MA. "After experiencing the service and music in Sutton, I knew that we had to bring a U2charist to our community," explains youth leader, Meghan Lynch. The service replaces traditional hymns with recorded music from U2 and its lead singer, Bono. The band has long been associated with social justice movements. "U2 has never billed themselves as an outright Christian band, but their music resounds with Christian messages of love, peace and social justice," says Lynch. Bono has been an outspoken advocate for the ONE Campaign, debt forgiveness for poor nations, and other causes. The senior high youth group at St. Mark's is using the event to raise awareness of extreme poverty, and to raise money for charities that support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were first conceived in the 1970s with the goal of contributing 0.7 percent of every nation's wealth to humanitarian aid. In 2000, all nations endorsed the commitment to key goals which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. Following the service, St. Mark's will offer a light dinner and roundtable discussion about "what one person can do" to help further the MDGs. |