Easter-to-Pentecost goal achieved!

Some people were feeling generous over the (USA) Memorial Day holiday weekend!
From the GlobalGiving site for our AIDS Education for Students in Cameroon project:
This project is now in implementation and no longer available for funding. Received funds will be used to accomplish concrete objectives as indicated in the project's "Activities" section. Updates will be posted under the "Progress Report" tab as they become available. Donors' contributions and pledges to this project totaled $1,553. The original project funding goal was $1,000.

Congratulations to the iEARN-SchoolNet-Cameroon program, to us (as well as anyone unaffiliated with us who also made up part of this wonderful total)... and thanks to all of you who contributed.

Visnja Cogan has a suggestion for preachers: don't mention reality

I'm linking this because the reviewer's reaction made me laugh: the Irish Independent (registration required) discusses the new U2, An Irish Phenomenon by Croatian-French author/fan Visnja Cogan, opining that most of the book is "dangerous territory with pitfalls of pretension cropping up with every paragraph." But here's my favorite comment in the article: "From a fanatical fan's point of view perhaps some of this quest is fascinating but in the section on spirituality she states: 'What bothers me, however, is the use of U2 songs in sermons as U2 have never tried to convert anyone and they have never preached to anyone.' What! Did she ever see Rattle and Hum with that hectoring egomaniac drawling in his ludicrous John Wayne accent and spouting off about whatever 'issue' came into his head?"

Cogan walks right into that one; but joking aside, just based on the one sentence quoted, it's a bit harrowing to imagine what kind of results would come of her principle being applied universally -- a sort of rigid cultural isolation of believers, in which no Christian homiletical work was permitted to interact with any art, writing, film, music, theatre, or cultural product that wasn't already explicitly "trying to convert." Imagine having to live with that kind of repression!

Who's got $2 for Africa?

About a week remains in this U2 blog's Easter-to-Pentecost campaign for an AIDS education program in Africa. Since last Sunday our project's total at GlobalGiving has mounted to $998. If you haven't given yet, your $2 (well, you might want to give $5, you know, with bank fees and not looking cheap and all) can get kids and teachers in Cameroon to their goal of $1000.

dallasobserver.com | News | The End Is Near

I missed this at the time, but here's a piece on dispensationalism at Dallas Theological Seminary which leads with a scene of Associate Professor of Theological Studies Glenn Kreider using U2 in class (followed by a pretty forced transition into the article's real topic).

Sausalito Presbyterian Church U2 event

Playing catch-up... Formatting issues make this U2 church presentation by a UCC pastor serving a PCUSA congregation in California a tad tough to read, but since it deals with a lot of U2 lyrics, I thought I'd throw it in here anyway. (Just a reminder, by the way, of something I've said before -- when I link something it doesn't mean I agree with everything in it.) Although it is listed as one, the piece doesn't seem to be a sermon -- more of an introduction to a huge list of songs used in worship: "Where the Streets Have No Name," "Yahweh," "If God Will Send His Angels," "City Of Blinding Lights," "Beautiful Day," and more. I suppose one reason I've missed noticing this one for several months is that unfortunately the name of the band is spelled incorrectly throughout.

The Observer | World | With Bono the preacher man on his mission to Africa

I'm not trying to provide thorough coverage of the Africa trip currently involving Bono, Bobby Shriver, Richard Meacham of the Global Fund, Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News, executives of corporations working with (RED), etc - others are doing that much better. But I thought our readers might especially appreciate this Observer article: "I prophesy that this jewel of a kingdom is soon to become a giant...."

Repost of the original Easter-to-Pentecost challenge: Ending June 4

With all the Bono in Africa converage, the NBC Nightly News, the ONE viewing parties, and so on, I thought I'd repost our own Africa project:

I've become pretty enthusiastic about the GlobalGiving site, which offers a very direct way to make donations to projects in the developing world that, in essence, help work towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. You can search for projects that need funding by theme or region, and you can even email the actual people running them in Asia or Africa or Central America or wherever. Here's a BBC article about the concept.

My suggestion is that we do a little experiment during the Easter season, and spread some Resurrection life by seeing how far our little U2 Sermons community can get towards funding a Global Giving project in Africa. I've chosen an AIDS education program in Cameroon whose focus is training teachers to use computers to deliver information on HIV-AIDS -- in part because their entire goal is only $1000, and in part because if you're reading this you have access to a computer and know how to use it, unlike 90% of high school students in Cameroon.

Update with 2 weeks left to go: Several donations came in the first week, with a few additional ones since then. The total on the project site as of Friday was $783 (of course this may not be all from U2 Sermons), which leaves $217 to achieve the schools' goal. Click through and check it out; you can enter your own choice of amount and give by credit card or Paypal.

For all those who still think ONE's a charity campaign

"It is even better than donating because when people work, and they can buy their own food and take themselves to the clinics, then it means they are doing it themselves and they are not just receiving food parcels."

Another brief piece on Rwanda is here.

It took them 10 years to get from Psalms to Ecclesiastes, and it's only one book

Check out this long and thoughtful reflection on The Challenge of Ecclesiastes by David Peebles Williamson, interacting with a number of Scriptural passages as well as with Albert Camus, Stanley Hauerwas, "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For," St. Jerome, and a lecture by Nick Cave. Thanks David for pointing me to your piece.
Excerpt: [The cry of Koheleth] is the equivalent of a Hollywood ending where the hero is about to passionately embrace the heroine he has rescued from certain peril. She falls into his grasp, the music swells, he leans forward, and then turns to the camera and says: 'This is all pretty pointless, isn’t it?'

Right down whose center?

On the WNYC show today, it seemed to me we got to hear a lot more of Joe Levy and host John Schaefer than of Chris Scharen - it was a generalist round-up of the concept that U2 have a Christian grounding with a few examples ("40," "Mysterious Ways," "Still Haven't Found," "Crumbs,") but still an enjoyable listen in which they did let Chris get some good words in edgewise. The thing that struck me the most was John Shaefer's characterizing Christians who condemn U2 as (roughly) "people who are right down the center of mainstream Christianity." This was one of a few remarks illustrating the assumption that U2 are beloved not so much by actual committed Christians as by, I dunno, a sort of fringe subgroup of unorthodox believers who are ill at ease with church. Um... hello?

Independent RED edition

It'll only be online for a couple days, and you've probably heard about it elsewhere, but let me particularly recommend reading, in the Bono-edited RED edition of the Independent, some of the kind of stuff that would probably never get printed otherwise:, e.g. A conversation with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown about trade and the followup to the G8, EU subsidies deny Africa's farmers of their livelihood on how dumping of subsidised produce in African countries is forcing local producers out of business, The woman who has the power to change Africa which introduces Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria and her crusade against corruption, and International Development Secretary talks about the first day of his trip to Uganda , which covers the Lord's Resistance Army situation. And after all that reading, one might ask: so why doesn't news like this seem to get covered in Western papers?

There is also the excellent editorial I am a witness. What can I do?

WNYC 5/17

Chris of One Step Closer will be on WNYC from 2-3 tomorrow afternoon, May 17, to talk about his book with John Schaefer. They stream live online.

[Edit: Chris has just given the update that he'll be joined by Joe Levy of Rolling Stone, who will advance a "decidedly different" view than Chris', on the show.]

AIDS education - a U2 blog project through GlobalGiving

Between now and June 4 (Pentecost), this blog is urging all readers to make a donation to an AIDS education program in Africa we've selected to support through the very cool GlobalGiving site. If you haven't given yet, there's still about $320 to go towards what I thought was a pretty modest goal of $1000, which goes to kids and their teachers in Cameroon. Click through to the site and read about their goal to use computers in the classroom to help stem the tide of HIV-AIDS infection, and then put something in the donation box -- even if it has to be as little as $10 or $20.

Sheila Walsh, ONE, and Women of Faith

I don't often report news about the people who make up U2, but since I do track ONE campaign stuff and had already linked to a post reflecting on hearing Bono in Dallas from another blogger, why not....
I don't know much about the organization Women of Faith, but here's one of their leaders, Sheila Walsh, quoting Isaiah 58 and promoting the ONE campaign after meeting with Bono in the company of Women of Faith's president Mary Graham and Chuck Swindoll's sister Lucy Swindoll. Photos are here.

Larry James' Urban Daily: Bono: Prophet to the World

The President and CEO for Central Dallas Ministries, a human and community development nonprofit with a focus on economic and social justice blogs about hearing Bono this week in Dallas.

Faith and Theology: Travelling outside karma: U2's Grace

Thanks to Ben for letting me know about the reflection on U2's "Grace," and more specifically on its guitar line, that he just posted. Coolest sentence in the thing, IMHO: "Even when Bono begins for a moment to lapse into a kind of vocal works-righteousness, with his too-strenuous repetition of the final line, the guitar riff continues undisturbed, so that the small vocal flaw is sublated and transformed, caught up and carried on the gentle rhythms of grace." Also, here's one for our readers; a commenter asks in response to Ben's words: What do Bono and Barth have in common?

Orthodox Church in America - retreat curriculum

Through a very random google, I ran into an outline for a 2002 youth retreat drawing on U2's "Walk On" (and other musical material that was popular at the time) from the Orthodox Church in America. Sadly no sermons from the Orthodox tradition were submitted for Get Up Off Your Knees, so I'm always pleased to be able to highlight Orthodox sites reflecting on the band's work.

GlobalGiving AIDS project

A little under a month remains in this U2 blog's campaign to support an AIDS education program in Africa. Readers, if you haven't given yet, there's still about $350 to go towards the goal of $1000 we want to reach for kids and teachers in Cameroon this Easter season. Any amount, even something as little as $10, can make a difference.

READ THIS IF:Your favorite song about heaven is NOT "I Can Only Imagine"

The unique and ever-prolix Fresno Dave is thinking about "Where the Streets Have No Name." Kudos to him for finding that MercyMe clip, as middling as the performance is, because I have to admit its introduction made me stand up and raise my palms to the ceiling. Thanks also, Dave, for the kind words about my writing.

If you don't like $14.95 for the six-session one in our book you could buy this....

Westminster John Knox Press, the publishing house of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have put out a new one-session $5.00 study guide called "The Music and Message of U2" by Jim Coons and Greg Cootsona. Product details here. Hat tip to Michael.

[Edit: one of the folks involved wrote and asked if I would also link the blog related to their overall "Thoughtful Christian" project, so here it is.]

Christ's Church of the Valley U2 wrapup

Some of you may remember the church in Arizona that had a U2 ticket giveaway as an outreach last year, a program that elicited eyerolls from some and applause from others. Here's their internal report on how it went, where you can also read comments left at their website. Hat tip to M2.

nevermind the bricolage: MP536: The Spiritual Journey of U2

Another perspective on the Fuller Seminary U2 class, chronologically so far: startup /
Boy / War / Unforgettable Fire / Live Aid