Next weekend, Friday and Saturday April 23-24, will be our Spring Retreat featuring Dr. Greg Garrett and We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel According to U2. Now, we know Trinity is a laid back late-registration kind of crowd, but as things stand we are worried about getting enough spots filled to afford this wonderful retreat! Don’t miss your chance—please sign up by this Sunday, April 18th!
From Publishers Weekly:
Garrett, an English professor at Baylor University, plumbs the U2 catalogue to reveal the group’s theological worldview. This is not a far stretch—three of the four band members were involved with a charismatic Christian community in Ireland as the group was starting out. U2 is not the only rock band to address spiritual themes in its music, but as the author adeptly illustrates, it has certainly been one of the most consistent and outspoken. Garrett rightly posits in a chapter about social justice that U2’s message encourages listeners to put their faith into action for the sake of the poor and marginalized. The author is clearly a music fan, and his excitement about U2 is contagious. Rock music fans who have ever wondered if their faith and musical taste could ever be paired will be intrigued by U2’s story and Garrett’s theological analysis of the band’s music. (July)
From Phyllis Tickle, author, The Great Emergence – How Christianity Is Changing and Why:
If you care at all about the role of music in western Christianity today, you’ll want to read this book.
From Dr. Greg Garrett:
Tell us a little about yourself. I’m a writer, teacher, preacher, musician, and father.
What was your motivation behind this project? I’ve been listening to U2 since the early 1980s and interviewed them early in their career. U2’s music and their work for peace and justice has been a huge part of my own spiritual journey, and I wanted to examine their work theologically so people could learn from it.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? I’d like for readers of the book to recognize, first, that God speaks to us in many ways, and that U2’s music has been a powerful influence even on those outside the Church. I also hope they might recognize how we are called to be in community, and to work together for the Kingdom of God.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? Well, I listened to U2 for two years as I was thinking about and writing the book. But mostly I was inspired by their songs and their example. I finished the project more impressed by them than when I’d begun.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? For this book, I’m going to stick with U2.
Anything else you’d like readers / listeners to know: I think U2’s new album, No Line on the Horizon, is one of their most overtly Christian. And I explain why in the book.