dagurreotype: U2charist

Yesterday I attended the U2charist at Uptown@Incarnation, Dallas. The service was very interesting. It was sort of a merger of "seeker-friendly" with some emerging church components (they had candles - but so does almost every other parish in the Episcopal Church!). It mostly followed Rite II of the 1979 BCP, using Eucharistic Prayer A and the basing the Prayers of the People on Form 1 from Rite II. The entire offering was to be given to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and to provide care for those Africans living with HIV/AIDS. The place was packed. I don't know the seating total, but it was packed.

I know it wasn't a "typical" Uptown service and there was a good number of GenX and younger types there as well as some Baby Boomers and even one or two pre-Boomers, but I do have a few observations to list. (Sorry about the big blank space - it is Blogger's doing not mine! Jump to the rest of the blog entry.)

Negative	Postive
Too bright, just too many overhead lights and not the good kind either	The average age of laity and clegy was closer to my age
No kneelers (I realize that Uptown rents space but this bugged me)	There were lots of people there
Being invited to "kneel or sit" during the Confession - BCP says kneel	The Communion wine wasn't too strong or too weak, but just right
Being invited to "kneel or sit" when the BCP says "kneel or stand"	They had people available to pray with people desiring prayer in the narthex during Communion
Not really being able to sing along without being a big U2 fan	While I didn't go, there was an announcement made about a group gathering for lunch - I take it that this is a weekly event

Overall, I think I'd have to attend a "usual" service to form a full opinion, but I got the impression that Uptown is trying to be seeker-friendly and emergent at the same time.

Photo added on Tuesday, 26 September 2006