Sewanee plans "U2CHARIST" Church Service

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-Sewanee, Tenn.] All Saints' Chapel at the University of the South invites everyone to a special "U2CHARIST" service on April 13, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. in Sewanee, Tenn. The U2CHARIST - named after the rock band U2 and the Holy Eucharist - incorporates the Irish performers' music and lyrics with the traditional elements of the Episcopal Church service. The music in this service is replete with the message of global reconciliation, justice for the poor and oppressed, and the importance of caring for one's neighbor, particularly the most vulnerable and most in need.

The goal of U2CHARIST services, gaining in popularity across the country, is to help educate the public about the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Episcopal Church's ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. Global MDG ambassador Bono, the lead singer of U2, is calling people worldwide to a deeper faith and engagement with God's mission.

MDGs were adopted by the United Nations in 2000, when it pledged to eradicate extreme poverty and disease by the year 2015. Offerings collected during the service will be given to an organization that works to support the Millennium Development Goals. Canned goods will be collected and donated to local food banks. Last year's event in Sewanee raised over $4,600 to support the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment, an international group located in Haiti, and the Community Action Committee, a Sewanee outreach program that offers groceries, assistance with utility bills, and financial counseling to those in need.

U2CHARIST services, which have been held in more than 150 churches throughout U.S., grew from an idea of the Rev. Paige Blair, rector of St. George's Episcopal Church in York Harbor, Maine, who held the first U2CHARIST at her church on July 31, 2005. Using the rock band's music, she sought to attract young parishioners and highlight the Church's global priorities.

Established in 1857 in Sewanee, Tenn., on the Cumberland Plateau, the University has 1,450 students in the College of Arts and Sciences and more than 120 graduate students in the School of Theology, pursuing master and doctoral degrees, and certificates in theology. The University of the South is owned by 28 Episcopal dioceses, the only university so directly related to the Episcopal Church