A Sydney Anglican minister is off on the trip of a lifetime as he follows U2 and their faith-driven lead singer on their Australian tour and will be sharing the experience with Sydneyanglicans.net.
The Rev Stephen Shearsby, the children's minister at St Paul's, Menai has purchased a ticket for each of the seven U2 concerts that the band will be performing in Australia, starting with the Brisbane show this coming Tuesday.
The 35-year-old father of three has been a U2 fan since he heard Pride (In the Name of Love) on television back in 1984.
"Seeing them live is where it's at with U2 and it's been nine years since their Popmart tour was here," Mr Shearsby says.
Mr Shearsby's wife, Heather will join him for the Brisbane and one of the Sydney concerts and he will be attending the other concerts with friends in Adelaide and Melbourne.
Mr Shearsby says Bono's faith has always been apparent in his music.
"His songs are like modern day Psalms. There's a lament about the state of the world and his songs about love are more than just lovey-dovey pop songs."
"On their last album [How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb] the track Yahweh, talks of trusting God and acknowledging the unknown reasons for suffering. Like Job, we have to keep trusting in God's sovereignty."
Mr Shearsby says Bono's support for the Make Poverty History campaign is also informed by his Christian faith.
"He has always had a large social conscience from day one and he has increasingly used his profile to expose issues like poverty to governments."
Stephen will be writing a blog for Your.sydneyanglicans.net during the tour and sharing his experiences of the concerts and the people he meets.
Rock star evangelism
Several Sydney Anglican churches are running U2 themed outreach events during the band's stay in Australia.
Minister Neil Durrant is running "U2 in the Yard' event at St Luke's, Northmead this Saturday night to reach out to the local community.
"The theme of the night is karma versus grace," Mr Durrant says.
"My talk deals with three quotes from Bono where he clearly states that he is glad that karma is not the judge of his actions and that it's Jesus who has died to take the sins of the world."
The 5pm Saturday night U2-themed church service will precede the evening concert which will feature a U2 cover band performing 16 songs.
"We’ve gone for a full rock and roll approach " t-shirts, proper tickets, fake tattoos but with family vibe, with picnic rugs in the yard, hot dogs on sale, and glow-sticks for the kids, Mr Durrant says.
Mr Durrant says the U2 event is part of a broader strategy the church has for reaching young families in the area.
"We are going to use this to promote our upcoming Christmas events and future monthly Saturday night family events."
At St Michael's, Wollongong, the Rev Canon Sandy Grant is running an event on November 12 entitled "The Gospel according to Bono'.
"We will have a group singing a gospel version of I still haven't found what I'm looking for and we'll engage with the interviews Bono did with French journalist Michka Assayas," Mr Grant says.
"It's great because Bono gave a very orthodox presentation of Jesus as either liar, lunatic or lord but in rock star language."
