Thoughts on Worship and Churches
From the desk of Pastor Verna
On Tom and my travels in the Baltic Sea, we visited the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, along with Germany, Russia, and Estonia. The two major Christian religions of these countries are Lutheran and Russian Orthodox. During the post WWII period until the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, the Soviet Union persecuted Christians in their country and occupied areas of Eastern Europe. Only the elderly women would dare to worship in these churches for decades. Yet today these churches are active again with worshipers of all ages attending their services.
We discovered the richness of Christianity in this region of the world. In the Scandinavian countries and Estonia, Christianity began around 1000 AD. The two Lutheran churches above are the oldest still in use in Sweden (1244) and Estonia (1233).
Russian people historically are of the Russian Orthodox faith. Many transplanted Russians living in Estonia are also Orthodox. We saw worshippers standing or kneeling on the floor in this 1894 Russian Cathedral in Estonia because there are no pews. We were dazzled by these beautiful golden towers of this Orthodox chapel at Catherine Palace, one of the summer residents of the Russian Tsars.
These two Lutheran churches above show the variety of worship settings. The one on the left in Helsinki, Finland was built out of rock and is mostly under ground. An infant baptism was being concluded when we entered. The one on the right with fountains is in Copenhagen, Denmark. During WWII, Denmark was occupied by the Nazis, who wanted to round up the Jews. The King told the Nazis that he and all the citizens of Denmark would wear the Star of David before allowing that to happen. The Nazis backed off, and no Jews were persecuted in Denmark.
Starting on Rally Day, September 12th, we have new times: our combined worship is at 10:00 am and Sunday School is at 9:00 am. This is exciting period for us as we combine many of the musical and creative talents of our community to provide a new and vibrant worship that mixes traditional and contemporary elements together. As I said recently in a sermon, our journey of faith takes us along the path that leads to the perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ. We walk that path cheered on by the crowd of witnesses, who have gone before us. Some of them, like the Christians in the countries we visited, kept the faith despite being severely tested. They sought the freedom to peacefully worship their God in a time when few believed that the Berlin Wall and communism would ever fall. We are to keep the faith as well.
Our focus in worship is on praising God, hearing the word of God, welcoming all who seek a closer relationship with Jesus, and being empowered for service. We, the people of St. John’s, are united in grace and committed to His mission. Come join us and be part of our growing community.
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