Pentecost - the nations gathered!

Today is Friday, so it is the big day for worship again here in Dubai.

As I came back from an afternoon out, a huge Sri Lankan congregation were coming out of the front part of the main church (it can be partitioned into two). There were a great many young adults, both men and women, though these are the ages when you are likely to be working here in Dubai. I have heard that many Sri Lankan women work as nannies, though this may be because they can earn so much more than they would at home.

At the back of the main church another congregation were getting ready for worship which seemed to involve a curtained area and carpets to sit on (this may be an Orthodox group who are famous for setting off the fire alarms with their incense!).

Other congregations were meeting in the larger halls upstairs. Both took their shoes off to worship (well either that of they were organising a massive shoe sale!). I noticed that one was divided with men on one side and women on the other - but there were far more men present. This struck me as a real contrast to church in the UK! Though it may be that there were more men because of those who stay in the nearby labour camps.

The meeting room by my room is also in use, so I am unable to get back in until 10.30 tonight! Fortunately, I had been shopping at Ibn Battuta this afternoon and got a bit more food to last me the last few days here, which has had to be turned into my evening meal!

Pentecost Friday Morning Worship at Christ Church
This morning Steve led us in a memorable and moving Pentecost Service centered around the global day of prayer at Pentecost.

Earlier in the week he had mentioned that he wanted maps of the world so I suggested organising his own from Google Earth (like the one I produced to show how far away I am here in Dubai). Steve does not do things by halves, so had the maps specially printed up at a shop on A0 sheets of paper - about 3 foot by 4 foot!

After a short beginning to the service, we gathered around the map of our home continent. The largest number of people present were from Europe, but there were a good number from Asia, the Americas, Africa, Australia and so on - it really is a global congregation! We used the confession and creed to pray over our continents, then we were encouraged to move around to pray for other parts of the world. We could pray extempore or use the prayers that Steve had found in books for people to read out. It was somehow simple, yet powerful and moving.

We sang a mix of hymns and songs, much as we do at St Paul's. Steve had picked out 'Let the flame burn brighter' for us to sing, as he liked the words, but had never actually sung it. I told him how good it was, but did warn him that it was not easy to sing. He has a number of good musicians and is quite musical himself, but I was roped in to help their singers get to know it before the service as no-one has sung it before!

I am very impressed with Steve's creative use of liturgy. We began the service with 'Great is the darkness' (chorus 'come Lord Jesus, pour out your Spirit...'), and between the verses he had inserted some words for us to say, while the pianist played in the background. This worked really well and gave even more meaning to a great song.

I will put the photos on a separete post as that will be easier.