"This is the way church ought to feel every time it starts," Shannon S. Johnston told the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper. "You couldn't have kept me away from this."

"Unforgettable Fire: A Eucharist for Social Justice" was held on the evening of June 21 at the Church of the Holy Comforter (Episcopal) in Richmond. The service was held in conjunction with St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.

The U2charist blended traditional liturgy with music not usually associated with church.

The customary elements -- Gospel reading, sermon, prayer and communion -- were there. But the Rev. Abbott Bailey, associate rector of St. Stephen's, wore flip-flops and a ONE T-shirt.

In place of hymns and organ music, U2 songs played loud but not begging for earplugs.

The message was to wage war against poverty,  disease, injustice and preventable suffering, all part of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.

A large screen behind the altar displayed lyrics and corresponding visuals, a la MTV. Images ranged from celebrities and politicians to photos from church mission trips to Africa.

Several hundred worshippers snapped fingers, clapped hands and tapped feet along with the songs.

"This is really, really fun," 12-year-old Celeste Glave told the newspaper. "We can relate to this music."

U2 singer Bono has used his fame to create awareness of his political activism, especially in the struggle to end global poverty. He co-founded the advocacy organization DATA (debt, AIDS, trade, Africa) and is a creator of the ONE campaign to increase U.S. spending on programs to aid Third World countries. The ONE Episcopalian campaign  is part of the effort.

Some of U2's songs are overtly religious; the lyrics to "40," for example, are adapted from Psalm 40:1-3. Others, such as "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and "One" are metaphors for faith and justice.

"Bono is a disciple," said Johnston, who was attending his first U2charist.

U2's music often is used in worship, but in the past two years U2charist has become a familiar service, mainly in Episcopal congregations.

The Rev. Paige Blair, rector of St. George's Episcopal Church in York Harbor, Maine, who is credited with fueling the movement, said in the past two years U2charist services have raised about $100,000.

The fees to use U2’s songs are waived if offerings are donated to Millennium Development Goal projects. The Virginia offering was earmarked for Episcopal Relief and Development.

The Episcopal Church has endorsed the MDGs and its General Convention has called on congregations to set aside .7 percent of budgets to support such programs, both via Resolution D022.

"I am confident that if we let ourselves get swept up into the divine enactment of God's creative possibility expressed in this service, then we can answer yes to the divine 'what if' -- that we can answer yes to God's radical 'do it anyway,'" Bailey said in her sermon.

"If so, then we might just be able to stare down the world's most intractable problems and run headlong into the whirlwind of God's life-giving activity -- we might just truly help make poverty history," she said.

The Rev. Bruce Birdsey, interim rector at Holy Comforter, said before the service, "Serving this noble cause is a grand opportunity to reach people who may not have much use for the institutional church."

A full house at Thursday's U2charist proved his point.

"I think it shows the world is hungry, " Johnston said. "Not just for food, clothing and health, but for spirituality."