Monday, May 24, 2010

Hail Thee Festival Day...

...those were the words of the opening hymn at church this past weekend. Yesterday marked the end of the Easter season with Pentecost! Pentecost is the celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the apostles, ten days after the Ascension of Christ. Many call this the "birthday of the Church".

Our church takes this celebration very seriously! There was a delicious dinner on Saturday night. The main purpose for the dinner was to raise money to make an extra mortgage payment on the new parish hall but the entertainment and dessert definitely had a Pentecost theme! There is a member of the church who, among his many talents, can juggle flaming juggling pins as well as breathe fire!


After dinner, we were served Bananas Foster, a dessert that is as visually impressive as it is tasty!

After dinner, the kids pulled out their sleeping bags and got ready for an evening of fun. With all the adults gone, except the brave few chaperones (including Leni), the night was all about fun, games, ice cream, and decorating the church with paper doves representing the Holy Spirit. Doesn't it look festive?


My favorite part of the weekend was during the Gospel reading at church on Sunday. The deacon begun reading the Gospel account of the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles and how they all started speaking, each in his native tongue. As the deacon was reading this, it was being read simultaneously by several other church members, some in English but many in other languages. Seasoned members of the church remember this tradition year to year but having only been here still less than 6 months, it was quite startling to me! My shock only paled in comparison to how the real apostles must have felt back in the day. I can't even imagine.

Hope your celebrations of this liturgical holiday were as exciting. If not, you're welcome here next year!

Keep It Real!

3 comments:

  1. Birthday of the Roman Catholic Church yes. I thought the birthday of your church was when King Henry decided he didn't want to have to keep it in his pants.

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  2. The history that predates the beginning of the Anglican church is still part of our history. But point otherwise taken :)

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  3. Henry was a monster, but there is a lot more to the creation of the Anglican Church than his sexual impropriety.

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