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Rainbow Rowell: Fans see Bono as more than a rock star
BY RAINBOW ROWELL
WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST
LINCOLN - Bono is a preacher. He can't help it.
But he's a stranger to the pulpit.
When his lapel microphone failed Sunday morning during a visit to St. Paul United Methodist Church, the U2 lead singer made himself heard. He bounded toward the pulpit.
"I've always wanted to get into one of these," he joked, stepping behind the microphone at the wooden podium.
The rock star stopped in Lincoln on Sunday to present a World AIDS Day program at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Fans started lining up Saturday night for that event.
On Sunday morning at St. Paul, Bono called for the congregation to reach out to those suffering in Africa. It's a mission already close to the church members' hearts. They're working to raise money for an orphanage in Nigeria.
Later that night, Bono told reporters:
"I went to a church service today. . . .
"I thought that I'd be telling them about the AIDS emergency. They started telling me."
I came to St. Paul for less noble reasons with my husband and with Aldona Doyle and her husband, Mark. Aldona is a hard-core U2 fan and a Sarpy County commissioner.
I'll admit it, we came to see Bono.
We weren't sure he would be there.
We weren't sure we were supposed to be there.
St. Paul has two Sunday services, and we were scared to ask which one Bono was coming to. We didn't want to be kicked out.
And I wasn't sure we could pass for Methodists.
As it happened, that wasn't a concern, as the St. Paul members seemed delighted to have guests.
"The Boss is going to be happy with this crowd," a man told Mark in the restroom. "There's some entertainer here."
The entertainer himself - "Bone-o," some folks were calling him - arrived for the second service. (When he didn't show up at 9 o'clock, we four agreed that two church services in one day never hurt anybody.)
He entered as the congregation sang African folk hymns, and then he sat quietly through the Advent service, more hymns and two baptisms.
(If there was any doubt whether Bono was paying attention . . . one of the newly baptized babes started to fuss and had to be taken out during Bono's presentation. Bono stopped his speech and called out, "Where is Alexander going?" Everyone but Alexander laughed.)
As we rubberneckers can attest, Bono came to church looking like a rock star. Messy hair. Black platform shoes. Blue sunglasses.
But there were few references to his day job.
Quoting scripture, he explained why he was working to fight AIDS in Africa. He said he had decided to stop asking God to bless his own work and to start doing the work God already has blessed.
And then he introduced a guest, an HIV-positive nurse from Uganda, Agnes Nyamayarwo, a widow with eight children who had lost both her husband and 6-year-old son to AIDS.
When you're at a U2 concert, it never stops being about Bono. But as the program was under way, we sort of forgot we came to see a rock star. After the service, Bono was swarmed by people and TV cameras. At that point we didn't feel comfortable acting like rock fans. We didn't want to distract from his message.
"There are two sides to Bono," Aldona said. "There's the rock star, and then there's the love. We're here for the love."
Rainbow Rowell: Fans see Bono as more than a rock star
BY RAINBOW ROWELL
WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST
LINCOLN - Bono is a preacher. He can't help it.
But he's a stranger to the pulpit.
When his lapel microphone failed Sunday morning during a visit to St. Paul United Methodist Church, the U2 lead singer made himself heard. He bounded toward the pulpit.
"I've always wanted to get into one of these," he joked, stepping behind the microphone at the wooden podium.
The rock star stopped in Lincoln on Sunday to present a World AIDS Day program at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Fans started lining up Saturday night for that event.
On Sunday morning at St. Paul, Bono called for the congregation to reach out to those suffering in Africa. It's a mission already close to the church members' hearts. They're working to raise money for an orphanage in Nigeria.
Later that night, Bono told reporters:
"I went to a church service today. . . .
"I thought that I'd be telling them about the AIDS emergency. They started telling me."
I came to St. Paul for less noble reasons with my husband and with Aldona Doyle and her husband, Mark. Aldona is a hard-core U2 fan and a Sarpy County commissioner.
I'll admit it, we came to see Bono.
We weren't sure he would be there.
We weren't sure we were supposed to be there.
St. Paul has two Sunday services, and we were scared to ask which one Bono was coming to. We didn't want to be kicked out.
And I wasn't sure we could pass for Methodists.
As it happened, that wasn't a concern, as the St. Paul members seemed delighted to have guests.
"The Boss is going to be happy with this crowd," a man told Mark in the restroom. "There's some entertainer here."
The entertainer himself - "Bone-o," some folks were calling him - arrived for the second service. (When he didn't show up at 9 o'clock, we four agreed that two church services in one day never hurt anybody.)
He entered as the congregation sang African folk hymns, and then he sat quietly through the Advent service, more hymns and two baptisms.
(If there was any doubt whether Bono was paying attention . . . one of the newly baptized babes started to fuss and had to be taken out during Bono's presentation. Bono stopped his speech and called out, "Where is Alexander going?" Everyone but Alexander laughed.)
As we rubberneckers can attest, Bono came to church looking like a rock star. Messy hair. Black platform shoes. Blue sunglasses.
But there were few references to his day job.
Quoting scripture, he explained why he was working to fight AIDS in Africa. He said he had decided to stop asking God to bless his own work and to start doing the work God already has blessed.
And then he introduced a guest, an HIV-positive nurse from Uganda, Agnes Nyamayarwo, a widow with eight children who had lost both her husband and 6-year-old son to AIDS.
When you're at a U2 concert, it never stops being about Bono. But as the program was under way, we sort of forgot we came to see a rock star. After the service, Bono was swarmed by people and TV cameras. At that point we didn't feel comfortable acting like rock fans. We didn't want to distract from his message.
"There are two sides to Bono," Aldona said. "There's the rock star, and then there's the love. We're here for the love."
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