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The worship band is on the last few bars of legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" when the Rev. Morris Brown turns his Bible to the book of John and attempts to make the connection for his largely baby boomer congregation.

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The words to this first Springsteen song to make it into the Billboard top 10 — "Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack. I went out for a ride and I never went back." — take Brown back to high school and 1980, windows down, ster­eo cranked and the words screaming from his mouth.

"Everybody's got a hungry heart," fills the air this Sunday morning, as well. "Everybody's got a hungry heart."

This is the contemporary service at Grace Church United Methodist , and what's ahead is a month of sermons based on Springsteen's lyrics. Brown, the senior pastor , is a big Springsteen fan.

He would love nothing more than for Springsteen's interest to be piqued by the series title — "The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen" — and for the rock icon to catch the last service when he plays Greensboro at the end of this month.

But what's compelling to Brown at the moment is being able to tap into Springsteen's "absolutely incredible gift" to describe the struggles of human beings. Brown is using the opportunity to turn to the teachings of Jesus to find positive ways to deal with those struggles.

"Like a river that don't know where it's flowing. I took a wrong turn and just kept going."

As the "Hungry Heart" lyrics unfold, the man ends up in another relationship and quickly discovers it doesn't satisfy him either.

"As we hear the story," Brown says of the man's struggles, which dismantle so many lives, "our first temptation may be to pass judgment.

"Before we judge him," he says, "Springsteen reminds us of something. He reminds us that the reality is, all of us have 'a hungry heart' ... and if we don't find healthy ways to fill them, we may end up like the man in the story.

"We may not leave our wife and kids in Baltimore, but we may try to satisfy our hungry hearts in some unhealthy and destructive ways. Well, our faith says Jesus came to fill that hunger."

The sermon series might seem unusual, but it's not an unreasonable stretch, says Kate McCarthy, a religion professor at California State University at Chico , whose work includes "God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture."

"Springsteen's music, though secular, has deep religious roots," McCarthy says. "From his earliest records, he has employed themes of sin and atonement, forgiveness, transcendence and liberation to make sense of contemporary American life.

"I met her in a Kingstown bar

"We fell in love, I knew it had to end

"We took what we had and we ripped it apart

"Now here I am down in Kingstown again."

Already this Sunday morning, the connections between man and God that Brown speaks of have been brought to life in the christening of Greta Grace Johnson and the breaking of bread through Holy Communion.

"If it brings folks in and closer to God," church member Heather Lang says of the way her pastor has chosen to teach about faith, "I think it's awesome."

In the weeks to come, the worship band and sermons at 9 a.m. will follow up with "Brilliant Disguise," "My City of Ruins" and "Devils and Dust."

At the 11 a.m. service, the only difference is that the church choir will perform music related to each week's theme.

Linda Randall , whose master's thesis at Wake Forest University is on Springsteen and his spirituality, has seen him perform around the world 30 times.

In Sunday's audience, she agrees with Brown's assessment of the things people long for, including those connections with each other.

"The connection is the need humans have to be a part of something, to feel community, to connect," Randall says.

"Everybody needs a place to rest

"Everybody wants to have a home

"Don't make no differences what nobody says

"Ain't nobody like to be alone."

"Many of us feel lonelier than ever in the digital world, where we don't have to move from our keyboards, don't have to interact with real, living humans," Randall says. "To find people we can relate to as well as trust is something precious."

Brown says a lot of thought is being put into the sermons so as to not alienate non-Springsteen fans.

His past series offerings playing off pop culture have included a "Games People Play" summer series using board-game strategy and "Lessons from the Motley Crew," in which the sermons played off the name of the popular rock band Mötley Crüe to talk about spiritual lessons to be learned from the lives of Jesus' 12 disciples and Mary Magdalene.

"I think they've learned over the years that everything I do comes from a biblical perspective and my ultimate desire is to help people connect with God and help people to love each other," Brown says.

Contact Nancy H. McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com