Newsletter June 2014

Last month my godson, Benjamin Swanson and his wife who are wrapping up a two year stint with the Peace Corps in Liberia in west Africa, wrote about the first part of a typical Liberian Sunday worship service.  This month he continues the report.  Read their blog and see the pictures at http:// kingswan.wordpress.com.  He wrote this in two posts “Clap for Jesus” and “Wave for Jesus” in February 2014.  Or check my page on our website for last month’s installment.  Now, read on!

                          –Pastor Halverson

Services are often led by an “evangelist.” This is a lay-person with a penchant for crowd-control. He will lead the congregation through the service, introducing songs, readings, announcements, etc. He is also the one who monitors the energy level in the sanctuary. If the energy in the room starts to drop or if the people get too chatty, he will use one of the standard attention-grabbers (responses in italics): “God is good! All the time! And all of the time! God is great!” “Everyone wave to Jesus!” (Congregation waves their arms in air.) “Hello! Hi! Hi! Hello!” And our personal favorite: “Let’s all clap for Jesus!” (Congregation claps vigorously.)

Music is the main focal point of the worship service. Fifty percent or more of the service can be devoted to music. A church usually has two choirs – an English choir and a second “dialect” choir. Our second choir is the Bassa choir. The English choir is accompanied by a western drum set and electronic keyboard. In long choir robes, they dance and sing western-influenced gospel music in two part harmonies, often with a soloist on the microphone. They have a big, soulful sound. The Bassa choir has two traditional drums and a sasa. The sasa is a traditional percussion instrument made from a dried gourd woven inside a net of beads or shells. The Bassa singers, in their commencement-style caps and gowns, sing in the Bassa language. The melodies are complex, with lots of blazing-fast rises and falls. A lead singer calls the words, and the choir and audience call responses. The songs are long – sometimes as long as twenty minutes. Traditional Bassa music seems to be in a minor key, but never sounds somber or dark. Everyone in church, including guests, is encouraged to stand up, clap, and dance to the music. It is a truly joyful scene. (And it requires getting out of one’s conservative shell!)

Prayers in the church are impassioned and prolonged. Early in the service is the Prayer for the People, where parishioners are asked to come forward so the pastor can pray for them. We have been at services in the States where five or ten people will go to the front. In Liberia, five or ten can be the number left in the pews. During the prayer, people can listen to the pastor or put up their own prayer. Worshippers pray out loud, sharing whatever personal and private thing is in their hearts. Ten cathartic minutes later, the prayers subside and people peacefully return to their seats.

The sermon comes at the end of the service. It begins with a question by the Evangelist: “Who brought their weapon?” In enthusiastic response, people wave their bibles in the air. Then the pastor leads off by reading the week’s Bible passage, sometimes calling each verse number as he goes. He then moves on to his message, which can be fire-and-brimstone or funny and anecdotal. Regular themes center around bearing false witness, hypocrisy, and, most frequently, tithing. Key phrases and messages are translated into the local dialect. Audience participation is frequent. When worshippers are moved by the pastor’s message they issue calls of the traditional: “Halleluiah!” the spirited: “Preach it!” or the ironic: “Tell them!” Ushers patrol the sanctuary, waking any sermon snoozers with a quick jab and a sharp word. Small children are expected to be silent when in church, which is amazing considering the sermon’s length. Sermons average forty minutes in length, but can approach ninety. Angie has held other peoples’ babies during the sermon, but the experience is usually short-lived due to the child’s “unacceptable” cooing and giggling.

Oftentimes, at the height of the homily, the pastor comes down from the pulpit and enters the pews. Feeding off the drama and energy, the audience rises to meet him. With flair and style, the pastor delivers his final, punctuated points. At the finale, the sanctuary bursts into applause and jubilant singing. The choirs sing the pastor back to his seat. On the way back to the platform, the pastor is sent with handshakes and backslaps. As he mops his sweat-beaded forehead, appreciative parishioners throw cash into baskets on the altar.

Next month he describes the offering and the conclusion of a very lively and long Sunday service.