Church on Sunday Morn

St. Anne's Lutheran Church, London

  This past Sunday, while most of the team attended Mass at the Westminster Cathedral in London, us Lutherans decided to venture out and find a Lutheran service.  It was Amelia, Margareta (from Germany), Helena (from Sweden) and myself who jumped on the tube and walked a few blocks and arrived (about 20 min. late, of course...because of the tube) at St. Anne's Lutheran church. It was such a bizarre experience as I had spent the morning preparing myself to hear a Lutheran sermon preached by somebody without a Minnesotan accent ( I wasn't sure I was going to be able to cope with it, to be honest).  It was a shocking moment when we walked in and realized the Pastor had an American accent...we later found out he was from Oklahoma!  What are the odds of that?!  Of course, being from OK, he was a big country music fan...so he and I shared a good bond over our after-service refreshments of tea and biscuits (cookies).
  Church attendance was pretty low that morning, they said it would pick up next week when all the kids come back with the start of the school year. Everyone was so friendly to us, especially after the Pastor introduced and welcomed us at the end of the service, there's nothing like the good ol' Lutheran hospitality.
  I have to say, my favorite part of the whole service was the Lord's Prayer.  Right before we began, the Pastor invited the congregation to say the prayer in whatever style or language was closest to them.  As we prayed, I heard German and Swedish on one side of me with Spanish, Latvian and Swahili being spoken across the aisle, each with their own rhythm and each with their own expression.  Now that's not something you get to experience everyday, especially in hometown, MT. As I stood there, my head bowed and hands folded, I'd never felt more connected to the world than I did at that very moment.  To think, we are all singing the same song with the same purpose, just different words, is so incredible.  There are no words to describe such an extraordinary feeling.

     I cannot wait for the new songs I will learn to sing this year.