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Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog

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`Is U2 a prophetic voice?' This is a question asked by Eugene Patterson in the forward to this book, `Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalogue.' There are many pop stars who can claim the role of `idol' with justification - Elvis and Marilyn Monroe are perhaps the greatest of these images, but in the end they lack the appropriate `ultimate concern' (if one may borrow a Tillichian phrase) because they become the objects of worship themselves - of course, there are some who worship or have worshiped U2, but in fact the strength of U2 lies in their symbolic nature, that they point to things greater and more important than themselves, and through the power of their music, lyrics and personae involve the people in something more ultimate.

One of the strengths of a book such as this is that it pushes the boundaries of ordinary preaching. Both editors Raewynne Whiteley and Beth Maynard have been involved in the Episcopal Church's Gathering the neXt Generation network, a group dedicated to looking for ways to involve more of Generation X into the church - what better way than to go to where Generation X lives, the popular culture, dominated by music.

The book grew out of an initial conversation of the editors and a third person, Mike Kinman, at a conference where Whiteley presented a paper on U2 and preaching to the GenX group. It became apparent that this was not a solitary glimpse, but had the aspects of communal revelation. Through various contacts, Whiteley and Maynard collected homilies preached by fellow ministers that involved key songs or elements of U2. There are 26 sermons in all, organised according to broad themes each introduced by a meditation by Sarah Dylan Breuer. The appendices include a paper by Whiteley on pop-culture and preaching, a brief history (for those who are new) of U2 by Maynard, and a very useful 6-session outline for an adult study series incorporating U2 and this text. This is bound to be of great interest to churches who might want to reach out to the GenX population, and can be a great evangelism tool. The adult series requires extra material (including important pieces of the U2 corpus, music and video), for this kind of study requires more of an MTV approach incorporating different media, but it does not assume that the participants are necessarily fans of U2 beforehand.

Just as U2 speaks with a strong voice and tells various stories of importance, so too do these sermons. These certainly do not read like the sermons from dusty seminary shelves, so-called `classic' sermons that highlight particular preaching methods or hermeneutic devices; these are fresh and vibrant with an energy quite new. With regard to this text, I would never say `I still haven't found what I'm looking for.' Perhaps this will be an answer for whom that lyric still holds true.

So, is U2 a prophetic voice? The authors in this text would say yes. They expose the bad, proclaim the good, call for the acting for good - this makes up the core of good prophecy and good preaching.

most of the sermons in this book are very high quality. some are lacking. overall, the book has been very helpful for me (i am a theology student at princeton seminary and a preacher). the history of U2, the study guides, and the introduction/foreword are all helpful additions to these sermons.

i've been using U2 lyrics in my sermons for a while; it's nice to see others have done the same, with expertise and wisdom.

order this book especially if you are Christian and a U2 fan!

Nathan Hart

Long time fans (& new ones too) will appreciation learning the history behind the lyrics and gaining an understanding of how the group is influencing religion today.

...they made me - a 20+-year-long U2 fan - go back and listen to song lyrics I hadn't really noticed the first time around, eg Gone, God Part 2. In an age (hopefully receding) of religious people seeing the world in black and white / good and evil, it's refreshing to see these ministers grappling with the ambiguities of faith, of admitting to sometimes feeling abandoned. The result is a woman or man coming out of the doubt even stronger spiritually. I knew U2 were special...cheers to these ministers for tapping into that for their congregations.

This book is wonderfully put together and incredibly fun. My friends and I are passing two copies of it around our college campus, and none of us can get enough of it! The sermons are thought provoking and fun!
Even if you haven't heard of U2 (odd as that may be) its still a great book!
Wahoo!

I discovered that this book IS available directly from the publisher (and there's not 'special order' fee!) for $14.95. Just go to www.cowley.org and forget about Amazon. They don't know what they're doing. From what the publisher told me, Amazon has no interest in putting up the correct information on this book.

BTW, it's a great book...at least this first part I've read so far.

I bought this book because I really do believe that U2 represent something very significant in terms of spirituality. I hoped the book would be as inspiring as U2 themselves or at least partly so. How wrong I was. This random collection of sermons feels like I'm stuck in high school english class listening to person after person rattle off speech after speech, wishing they were anywhere else but here. There is not a shred of revelation or conviction in any one of them. I kept reading hoping it would get better but it didn't. I'm very relieved that the people offering up these sermons are not preaching in my church. This is textbook preaching 101. Powerless and impoverished.