GAINESVILLE — When you walk into Sunday worship at Trinity United Methodist Church here, you’re just as likely to hear rock ‘n’ roll as "Rock of Ages."

Though it may not seem like worshipful music to many, the Sonlight Youth Choir is learning and teaching God’s message through today’s hit music, according to choir secretary Amy Haines.

"It’s definitely an alternative to what you normally hear in the church," she said.

Haines, a choir member from 1990 to 1995, says director Rebecca Brown, who founded the choir 15 years ago, realized kids in the church didn’t want to sing songs like "Jesus Loves Me."

To keep their interest, she started teaching them popular songs heard on the radio. She also taught them to look for a deeper meaning.

The group sings songs by artists James Taylor, U2, Dave Matthews Band and others and has a complete band with guitars, bass and drums.

Today, the choir has 120 members, fewer than half of whom grew up in the church, according to Haines. Many were invited to the choir by friends in the church and are now church members, but others are members of Jewish, Baptist and Roman Catholic churches.

The choir’s main responsibility is leading one of the church’s three weekly services. Attendance at the Sonlight service is between 500 and 600 people out of more than 1,400 who attend services at Trinity. Worshippers at the service include youth, parents of choir members and some older members of the church.

The choir doesn’t just sing popular songs, though, Haines said. They study them.

Choir practice involves musical training, as well as group discussions about the songs, which Brown chooses based on the choir’s annual theme. During worship, choir members share those discussions with the congregation.

Haines said perspective was last year’s theme. "It included how you gain perspective…of time, history and how long time will go on after we’re gone, and perspectives in nature," she said.

Choir members also take yearly tours to present their music to other congregations and experience life in other regions. They went to Colorado last June to get a new perspective on nature.

Group members got more than they expected, however, when they visited their first stop, Littleton, Co., which was included in their itinerary months in advance of the shooting at Columbine High School there. They spent several hours walking around the school grounds.

"It was very powerful," Haines said. "It hit them that it could have been any of their schools."

Sonlight members also got a new perspective on religion when they visited the Rocky Mountain Shambala Buddhist Center.