Church this morning in Skala
Once again, I am sending this to Mary, just because I do not want to type it all and then discover I can’t send it. I love having Mary read and sometimes she helps me get my thoughts across. I am trying to learn about how faith is taught to children in the Greek Orthodox Church here on Patmos. So, today, I attended the church in Skala, where more local families live.
The beauty of not being the pastor is that I get to come late, yay! Ha. So, when I walked in something was already happening. A priest was singing without words. It seemed like everyone knew what he was doing. I’ll have to ask what it was. I was interested to see that there were about six children from age 1.5 to 7 standing up front. Today was not a memorial service. But, kids were up front while this singing was going on. Then, maybe after 10 minutes or so, the priest came out and gave each of the kids bread, what seemed like communion. The kids knew what to do and they each got a napkin and helped themselves to more bread. The smaller children sat up front with their bread and ate it. At the end of worship, three of these kids each had a candle that is usually used for lighting and putting in the sand, and the kids were having a sword fight with the candles- seemed rather innocent and soft- just playing.
About 34 people, all ages. Men and women in their 50’s on up, plus the parents of these kids, and about half and half, men and women. An old Greek lady tapped my shoulder and told me to do something, but I don’t know what! I wondered if it was that I should not cross my legs? I uncrossed them. She was sweet about it.
OK, I am now to get to the good part and the hard part. The good part is a woman (Popi) who has a 20 year old and a 14 year old looked at me and whispered, “Do you want to know what is going on?” How kind. I said yes. She told me today’s gospel was about Jesus healing the blind man. Two 7-year-old boys helped read the gospel. Then, right before church was done, the priest had announcements for the coming week. All in Greek of course. I asked another woman what are the announcements. She told me, then Popi confirmed it. Then Popi introduced me to another person who speaks English the best, and all three said the same thing. (I hoped that maybe I was not hearing correctly). The last person spoke the best English, as he had pharmacy training in England. He is Greek and now lives on Patmos. He was about 38 and had a son about age 4.
So, the announcements included one about an upcoming meeting Friday, May 18 at 6:00 pm. The priest will talk about how the Greek government is now trying to have laws that go against Greek Orthodox teaching. On Saturday, May 19, at 10:00 am, the priest leads education for children. I heard about this, but did not know that it was 10:00 am. I would love to go to that, but won’t be on Patmos. Maybe I could get Robert to go.
After worship, Popi introduced me to the priest and he was kind to me. He had no idea that I have views so different. When I asked about youth and the church he said, and then it got interpreted to me, that the family’s job is to teach the children. Popi said that if the parents have Jesus in their heart, then they will pass this on to the kids. Her 14-year-old is not into church that much any more and she understands that it how it is for a teen.
OH yeah, one more good thing before the hardest thing. Popi was a true, devout and sweet woman. She sees having Jesus in your heart as the most important thing. I asked her if she prays every day. She said, “Every moment.” So, there you have it, a person devout in faith, but one who only gets taught one thing and that is all she knows. She agreed, that the government is not true Greek anymore, not strong in the Orthodox teaching and this is not good.
She also feels that the Greek Orthodox way is the only and best way, so therefore, when the Greek government is starting to introduce laws that let it be legal for abortion, or laws that make it legal for gay people to adopt, for examples, the priest is against this and will hold a meeting to educate his people. The pharmacist knows the words that many conservative Christians say and I hear this with such a heavy heart. “We believe that homosexuality is a sin, but no worse a sin than others. All people are welcome to our church. But we never condone the sin and hope that the gay people will confess their sin...”.
Popi is devout and lives out what she has been taught. I ache about this. It is exactly the same in US with conservative Christians. Patmos is one of the most “religious” islands. When I get to Lesvos, there is a Muslim contingent. Also, Mytilene is a university town. I am still waiting to find someone who has faith in Jesus and also sees that God made us all the same... and to celebrate our sexual diversity, not hide it.
The beauty of not being the pastor is that I get to come late, yay! Ha. So, when I walked in something was already happening. A priest was singing without words. It seemed like everyone knew what he was doing. I’ll have to ask what it was. I was interested to see that there were about six children from age 1.5 to 7 standing up front. Today was not a memorial service. But, kids were up front while this singing was going on. Then, maybe after 10 minutes or so, the priest came out and gave each of the kids bread, what seemed like communion. The kids knew what to do and they each got a napkin and helped themselves to more bread. The smaller children sat up front with their bread and ate it. At the end of worship, three of these kids each had a candle that is usually used for lighting and putting in the sand, and the kids were having a sword fight with the candles- seemed rather innocent and soft- just playing.
About 34 people, all ages. Men and women in their 50’s on up, plus the parents of these kids, and about half and half, men and women. An old Greek lady tapped my shoulder and told me to do something, but I don’t know what! I wondered if it was that I should not cross my legs? I uncrossed them. She was sweet about it.
OK, I am now to get to the good part and the hard part. The good part is a woman (Popi) who has a 20 year old and a 14 year old looked at me and whispered, “Do you want to know what is going on?” How kind. I said yes. She told me today’s gospel was about Jesus healing the blind man. Two 7-year-old boys helped read the gospel. Then, right before church was done, the priest had announcements for the coming week. All in Greek of course. I asked another woman what are the announcements. She told me, then Popi confirmed it. Then Popi introduced me to another person who speaks English the best, and all three said the same thing. (I hoped that maybe I was not hearing correctly). The last person spoke the best English, as he had pharmacy training in England. He is Greek and now lives on Patmos. He was about 38 and had a son about age 4.
So, the announcements included one about an upcoming meeting Friday, May 18 at 6:00 pm. The priest will talk about how the Greek government is now trying to have laws that go against Greek Orthodox teaching. On Saturday, May 19, at 10:00 am, the priest leads education for children. I heard about this, but did not know that it was 10:00 am. I would love to go to that, but won’t be on Patmos. Maybe I could get Robert to go.
After worship, Popi introduced me to the priest and he was kind to me. He had no idea that I have views so different. When I asked about youth and the church he said, and then it got interpreted to me, that the family’s job is to teach the children. Popi said that if the parents have Jesus in their heart, then they will pass this on to the kids. Her 14-year-old is not into church that much any more and she understands that it how it is for a teen.
OH yeah, one more good thing before the hardest thing. Popi was a true, devout and sweet woman. She sees having Jesus in your heart as the most important thing. I asked her if she prays every day. She said, “Every moment.” So, there you have it, a person devout in faith, but one who only gets taught one thing and that is all she knows. She agreed, that the government is not true Greek anymore, not strong in the Orthodox teaching and this is not good.
She also feels that the Greek Orthodox way is the only and best way, so therefore, when the Greek government is starting to introduce laws that let it be legal for abortion, or laws that make it legal for gay people to adopt, for examples, the priest is against this and will hold a meeting to educate his people. The pharmacist knows the words that many conservative Christians say and I hear this with such a heavy heart. “We believe that homosexuality is a sin, but no worse a sin than others. All people are welcome to our church. But we never condone the sin and hope that the gay people will confess their sin...”.
Popi is devout and lives out what she has been taught. I ache about this. It is exactly the same in US with conservative Christians. Patmos is one of the most “religious” islands. When I get to Lesvos, there is a Muslim contingent. Also, Mytilene is a university town. I am still waiting to find someone who has faith in Jesus and also sees that God made us all the same... and to celebrate our sexual diversity, not hide it.
I will end with the vision of the two churches in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Brad (and his partner Bill) and Jen (and her partner Jane) are pastors, partnered with children. To their parishioners, this is a non issue. What sounds like science fiction to the Athens participants of the class I taught, is reality in the United States.
I am learning what most all people know who live in Greece. So what do I do with this learning? A quick learning that I hope to pray and explore is how do we not take our freedoms for granted in the U. S.?
When Mike Pence and others advocate for “religious freedom” which to the conservative Christians is important, and to many of the rest of us, this is simply discrimination- are we silent? Or not silent?
I am learning what most all people know who live in Greece. So what do I do with this learning? A quick learning that I hope to pray and explore is how do we not take our freedoms for granted in the U. S.?
When Mike Pence and others advocate for “religious freedom” which to the conservative Christians is important, and to many of the rest of us, this is simply discrimination- are we silent? Or not silent?
Well, now I must go and see what Robert is up to. He attended the worship service with the nuns. I wanted to go there too. I went there for a few minutes and saw the nun who speaks English. I so wanted to visit with her after worship, but knew I needed to go to the local church in Skala.
Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Love and prayers, Nancy