The Life of the Church

I didn’t realize how out of place I must have looked at my first South African church service until several weeks later. I was sitting on the “wrong” side with the mamas (mothers and grandmothers) instead of across the aisle with the youth. In traditional Zulu culture men, women, and youth sit separately at community events. I had brought my Bible upon a reminder from my host mom, but had neither a Zulu hymnal nor the ELCSA almanac (a booklet of daily Scripture readings based on the liturgical calendar). No church would be able to afford sets of hymnals and Bibles for the pews. I was wearing a skirt, but didn’t know how inappropriate it would have been to wear trousers as a woman. (I still feel perpetually underdressed.) Although I found elements of the service similar, I could do no better than sit or stand when everyone else did. The first week I started to recognize the tunes and words to parts of the liturgy was a small victory. The singing was hauntingly beautiful, but I had no idea how everyone remained in the same key without a pitch reference. I thought it very unusual that several women were wearing what appeared to be a uniform, only to learn that they were members of the Prayer Women’s League. Congregants can join one of several fraternal organizations called leagues (Men’s, Women’s, Youth’s, and now Young Adults’). I was naively surprised to be introduced at the end of the service (and have been at several services since then) and felt guilty that everyone knew who I was, because I was still struggling with my first set of Zulu names. As I am terrible with names, I am thankful that to begin associating names with familiar faces and positions within the church hierarchy at the events I have attended since then. I realize now that my ignorance shielded me from complete disorientation and embarrassment on that first Sunday.

Sunday worship is a vibrant experience, full of singing, dancing, and even dancing while singing. (This has been a fun adjustment for an American used to more quiet reverence, although I will probably never move quite as well as my counterparts.) I was struck on that first Sunday, which was a very ordinary one, that the church was teeming with people. I was squished between the end of a pew and my host mom for three hours. (The longest service I’ve attended so far was almost six.) This enthusiastic attendance has been consistent on every Sunday since in venues ranging from a township congregation to an ordination service at Durban’s city hall to a tent at the national Young Adult’s League conference. There are no churches large enough to accommodate several hundred people. Most ELCSA churches are in rural areas for a number of historical reasons relating to the work of missionaries and the legacy of apartheid. Every Sunday has been different but I am slowly learning, in the brief time since my arrival, about the life of the church in the South Eastern Diocese (SED) of ELCSA. I am so grateful for the patience and hospitality of South African Lutherans, especially as I am integrating into a new church culture.

14 September: Young Adults’ League rally in Pinetown
21 September: ordination service in Durban
27-28 September: Prayer Men’s League conference in Imbali (township outside Martizburg)
3-5 October: national Young Adults League conference in Limpopo (most northern province of SA)
10-12 October: synod assembly in Umphumulo (seat of the bishop and offices of the SED)