Church

This weekend has been relatively uneventful. And while it is one of the most exciting things we do on a regular basis, I think you all get sick of hearing about what we eat. So I am devoting this post to tell you all a little more about the church we attend here in Moca.

There is a missionary here, but only temporarily. All they are doing is finishing up training some seminary students, and then they will leave. The church in Moca is almost completely self-supporting. There are two native pastors and another guy that I'm not sure what his position is. I think he might be like an elder or staff minister kind of thing. Anyway, the way they've trained their pastors is really cool. They split up the duties. Pastor Alex preaches on Sunday, while Pastor Nelson is specially trained in liturgy. He is in charge of running the service, choosing the hymns, and giving the readings. This means he was able to be trained much quicker than if he had been trained in all of the duties of a pastor.

While the church is Lutheran, and obviously so from the altar hangings and pastor garments, there are many striking differences between a WI Lutheran church and a DR Lutheran church.
-The sermon is more like a Bible study, with audience participation, asking questions, raising hands, things like that.
-Communion wafers are actually pieces of saltine crackers.
-There are no ushers: communion is just a come up when you're ready, offering is not passed (I'll explain later) and people just get up and walk around once the service is done.
-Offering is significantly more important to the members here than in the States. A basket sits on a table at the front of the church. The members make a line and one by one go up to the basket, have some quiet and personal meditation time, and leave their offering. This time is extremely important to the people at the church.
-When the meal is served at a fellowship time, the women sit and talk and watch the children while all of the men of the congregation are busy dishing up plates and handing them out along with serving beverages.
-At the end of a service, before leaving, everyone greets everyone else and wishes them God's blessings, sealing it with a handshake or cheek kiss depending on the gender.
-There are chihuahuas poking their heads in the doorway at the front of the church in the middle of the sermon.
-There is a cat poking around through the congregation during the service.
-The only music is provided by a keyboard and a computer. Provided there is power or the generator isn't broken.

TEASER: We have more pictures of the church coming soon. Of special note is a video of a baptism of a newborn baby we got to see today. Ha. Now you'll be coming to check the blog daily!