Journey with Barbados: Two weeks of living

Glad to be back again - perhaps its the thrust of my whole mindset where I find myself having to focus and shape the story of my time here as well as the ministry that I am undertaking. In four weeks tomorrow I leave the Rock and these direct experiences though they will live in my being forever. I realized this morning as I try to gather yet more and more information and make yet another contact for a potential partnership for the outreach ministry that I am engaged with on behalf of Vauxhall and South District Methodist Churches, that the time is here to stop that process and begin the full assimilation story of the vision that has been rising. Yet I need to go back to Holy Week to look again at the journey before I arrive to this morning.

Palm Sunday Celebration was at the early service (7 a.m.) at Dalkeith Methodist Church on the east side of Bridgetown. It was to be my first communion service ever where I presided by myself. The Bethel Circuit granted me dispensation (permission) to administer the sacraments (Communion and Baptism) while I was here on internship with them. I will always be indebted to their trust in me for this. It was a very powerful experience for me that morning. Any time that a group of people choose to become a community and participate even symbolically with the community of spirit around the world is a moving moment for my being.

I was glad to have the assistance of one of the local preachers to whom I gave permission to tell me to stand here or say this or that. The overall process of Communion is the same - yet the details are significant enough to put me on edge a little this first time. For example, the people come and kneel at a communion rail which harks back to my childhood experiences with the Lutheran church. The bread is the same small cubes and the juice is in the same small cups that I'm used to but the bread and juice are given individually to the people rather than they taking a piece off the plate. I figured that out on the third row of people by noting their hand positions and their hesitations. Good thing I've learned to laugh at myself!! Then there was the matter of the various formal prayers which are done quite differently from my experiences with The United Church. Being already aware of how differently styled the prayers are here in Barbados compared to my realm of experiences, I had to ask the assistant to say the first one after the people had received the elements, just so I could listen and find out generally what was appropriate to be said. They got easier and more focused each time, I think.

The children come up at the end for a blessing which is again different from my experiences at home though I have been to other Canadian churches where that is also the case. I thoroughly enjoyed giving them all a blessings though personally my heart yearned to have them participate in communion as full members of the Body of Christ at this Banquet Table.

All of this experience was made even sweeter for me since my daughter and my sister were there in the front row - bless their hearts for getting up @ 6 am to come to worship while on holidays!!

That service at Dalkeith started Holy Week. Every night I held a worship service at one of the six churches in the circuit. Monday night I was with the folks at South District and that was to be my last time with them, just because of the way that the preaching schedule worked out. Earlier that day I had to say goodbye to my daughter and sister. That set the emotional stage for a sermon on the nature of ministry that we are all called to have - a ministry that can be simultaneously wonderful and profoundly difficult. There were a few tears as I invited them to think of what God was asking them to take on in their neighbourhood - a ministry that will be very difficult and simultaneously life-giving.

Tuesday evening I was at Vauxhall, Wednesday night I was at Providence for the first time. Then Thursday night was a joint Circuit celebration at Bethel (main downtown church). I was the preacher for the evening. Needless to say I was nervous; fortunately I had grown comfortably into my sermon, relying on the advice of my many mentors over this last year to

preach with the Bible in one hand and life in the other; to preach as a story-teller, for that appears to be my greater skill. It was good advice - most of the comments at the end of the service were thanks for sharing of myself and for inviting them to see Peter's feet and not only Jesus' hands as a way of ministry (Story of the Footwashing). My point - making oneself vulnerable to be served by others not only allows for our own healing but puts us in a much better position to see what we demand of others as we attempt to serve them - I called it the Dance of Vulnerability. Others simply came up after the service and hugged me. I was touched.

This service was also a Communion Service and all the ministers participated. There were 5 of us there - I'm not used to so much formality but it did not hinder the experience from being very moving. Again it was the reality of serving the people with those who specifically had welcomed me into their midst with open arms and hearts. I got teary and was unable to offer Prayers of Blessing when Rev. Walfall asked me to do so. I worked hard to get my emotions under control and was able to offer those prayers later during the service. I was glad to have had this experience.

The next morning I was back for a 9 am service at Belmont for Good Friday. Later that afternoon I attended a Good Friday pageant at Vauxhall and then returned to Belmont for their Choral Presentation of the Messiah. I was honoured half way through the night when the choir director came over to me and handed me a copy of the music so that I could follow along. He had called me the week before to invite me to sing with the Barbados Choral Singers. I had declined for I knew that I was not able to find the time to practice with them. But I was touched by his actions and thoroughly enjoyed humming along quietly! I was forcefully reminded how much I would enjoy singing in a choir when I return to Canada.

Well Saturday was a day of rest and preparation. Easter Sunday came early - the sunrise service was at Bethel @ 5 am. It was wonderful a wonderful gathering - people were singing their hearts out and Rev. Walfall stirred their emotions to sing even more. It was a celebration of the Resurrection indeed but for me it was also a little bittersweet for I also longed to be celebrating with my family and friends back home. Those feelings climaxed during communion.

I had to leave the service as Communion was finishing (around 7 a.m.) for I had to get to Vauxhall for their Celebration @ 9 am. Once again this service was very meaningful for I was able to be more comfortable during the time of Communion. And once again, I thoroughly enjoyed blessing the children and directly saying good-bye to them for this too was to be my last service with this congregation. Another bittersweet moment.

I chuckled to myself when I realized that the service was just over 2 overs long for I wondered if I might bring these "habits" back to Canada. I'm kind of liking these 1/2+ hour sermons (which shouldn't surprise some of the readers of this blog!). Certainly is one of those areas of difference in the church culture in Barbados and that in Canada!

After the service I returned "home" for my first meal of the day and a quick nap. By 3 pm, Basil, Mary and I were out the door for the 175th Anniversary Celebration of Providence Church at 4pm. It was a big event and once again the singing was awesome. The most touching moment for me came once again when Rev. Walfall sang (accappella) The Lord's Prayer with the people responding likewise with the part "Hallowed be thy name". Holiness again.

After the service I was able to talk with Rev. Mulrain, the preacher for the evening, for about 10 mins. I had met Rev. Mulrain very briefly weeks before at the funeral of Rev. Rock. Rev. Mulrain is the President of the Connexion of the MCCA, a position similar to the Moderator of The United Church of Canada. I was delighted to hear about the various facets of ministry that he has had in his lifetime. His passion and humbleness of speech and posture left me with a desire to know more of his thoughts on the opportunities and challenges for ministry for his people.

We returned to the Forbes' home by 8:30 pm. One would think that after nearly 7 hours of services that stated at 5 am, I would be exhausted. But there was much to reflect and integrate from the day - Basil, Mary and I sat around the kitchen table for another hour and half. It was a fitting end to a day of complex emotions and wonderful celebrations with God's people!