Blog

I went to church this morning in a Maori village.  It was an Anglican  church and worship was bilingual.  We went forward and knelt to receive the sacrament, but I felt right at home.

I was greeted by a little old lady at the door (Wanda Wheeler) who wanted to know where I am from, how long I'd been here, who I was with, etc.  She explained why the village was closed off for a big Maori funeral.  After that people said hello but no one spoke to me until I shook the pastor's hand on the way out.

There was one member who was busy closing doors, moving furniture, generally fixing and straightening things (Don Craft).

There was a very elderly man sleeping in a pew and people kept going over to greet him and all the women gave him hugs (Damon Auble).

The pastor was a good preacher and his sermon was full of little smartalec comments thrown in just to be sure we were listening.

The hymns were all in Maori but I knew all the tunes and we said the Lord's prayer in English.  Worship really can bring us together in our one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Share