What I've Learned from Dominican Church Services

What is a typical church service like for you?  If you're like me, you know the Divine Services and Matins like the back of your hand (perhaps even better).  One of the things I have been struggling with in recent months is finding meaning in worship.  Of course, I know the traditions and symbolism of all the parts of the traditional Lutheran worship, but the familiarity allows the mind to wander.

Today the mission team attended two Lutheran services in Santiago, Dominican Republic.  These were, perhaps, among the most thought-provoking worship services I have ever attended.  And I couldn't understand a single word.  The services, not held in large buildings with pews, an organ, an altar, and a balcony but instead held in small rooms in run-down buildings in the midst of an impoverished city, were similar to traditional Lutheran services so I was able to identify the Confession and Absolution, the Lord's Prayer, and Holy Communion.  The first service had hymns and I recognized the melodies played by a nine-year old girl (my estimate) on an electric key board and one of the missionaries on guitar.  The second service had no musicians and all songs were sung with no accompaniment.  Each of these services, for me, had more intimate connections with God than any grand organ could hope to achieve.  Not to say that organ music is not beautiful and praising to God, but there were in the midst of extreme poverty, praising the same God as we do in our churches back home... and the songs were just as sweet to our Creator's ear.

As I've reflected on these experiences, I find that I crave fellowship with fellow Christians as much as I crave the water I drink here in the hot, humid Dominican.  This goes beyond the need for seeing acquaintances and friends at church before or after a service.  What I felt today was a unity, unbroken by linguistic or cultural differences.  I don't know the names of many of the people we worshiped with today, but I know I'll see them again; if not this week, in Paradise.  And we will know each other then.  And we will have that unity that cannot be broken for eternity.  This is what I crave in church.  And I am glad these Dominican services reminded me of that.