I thought Id like to go to church on Sunday morning. I already had a two-day bus pas that stopped at a church downtown, so I thought I'd attend there. St. George'sCathedral is not only the oldest cathedral in southern Africa, it is also the seat of the Arch Bishop of Cape Town. I bet you can all name one Arch Bishop of Cape Town, even if you don't realize it. This was Arch Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu's church.
It's a beautiful old stone building in
the classic cross shape with tall stained glass windows. The seating
is wooden chairs linked together rather than pews and the kneelers
are individual cushions stored under the chairs in front of each row.
This was my first Anglican service, so
I didn't quite know what to expect. I soon found my familiarity with
Catholic mass quite useful in navigating the service, though there
was far less kneeling. The congregation present for service seemed a
mix of local members and tourists, people of all shapes, sizes and
colors.
The reverend conducting the service
explained the guest speaker listed on the program could not attend as
he had been needed to escort Arch Bishop Emeritus Tutu to Nelson
Mandela's burial in Qunu. The two had left Cape Town at 4 that
morning for the burial proceedings. I was able to watch a bit of the
burial live on tv at lunch after service. Arch Bishop Emeritus Tutu
was one of many clergy walking the long road behind Mandela's coffin
after the funeral ceremony.
Much of the service was devoted to
remembrance of Nelson Mandela and the sermon talked of both him and
John the Baptist – the New Testament reading was about when John is
in prison and sends a message to Jesus to ask if Jesus is the
messiah. There was a beautiful poem dedicated to Mandela read by the
poet. And a special musical offering on a South African instrument
that I think was called a Zeze. The instrument itself looks like a
bow and it was played by rubbing a stick along the hard, curved part
of the bow. The lady held one of the hard, curved part in her mouth
but I don't know if that did anything or was just to old it. It had
a very unique, eery but pretty sound.
The service was beautiful and it hardly
felt like two hours had gone by when it ended. There was a coffee
hour afterwards, but I didn't stay. I wandered around a bit to
admire the sanctuary and take some photos. And I found something
delightful that really made me smile. A Kimberly-Clark paper towel
dispenser in the washroom!
1 comment:
How interesting! One of our scripture readings was the story of John the Baptist sending the message to Jesus. I'm looking forward to seeing those pictures, I want to know if the inside is Gothic style as well.
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