Sunday of Celebration

This past Sunday was a day of celebration for the English – speaking congregation in Butare. We held a triple celebration as we consecrated the new communion table, commissioned new leadership and welcomed guests from Kigali. To do all of this, the service took 3 hours. I felt as if I were back in Malawi. It was wonderful.

Worship did not begin on time, but that is to be expected. First there was the issue of not electricity and that was essential for the keyboard and the PA system that the visitors were bringing, so the solution was to hook up a generator, That took time. Then, of course we had to wait for our guests to arrive. It is a 2 hour trip from Kigali to Butare, if all goes well. That assumes that everyone was present and the bus could leave on time, but that is never the case. The group did well, in that they were only about 45 minutes later than estimated. But the time of waiting was not wasted. Those of us gathered sang and praised God. It was a joyful time.

New Communion Table

Once the service began, the first order of business was to consecrate the new communion table and pulpit. That was my responsibility. (This is the project for which I bought a goat, to help make the purchase possible.) I was honored to be the pastor to set this furniture apart for God’s glory. It is beautifully made and will serve the community for many years.

Guest Choir singing

Then the service could begin in earnest. One of the elements that made the service longer was that the guests from Kigali were French speaking, many from other countries. The pastor of this congregation had served in Butare when our congregation was French speaking, so this was a homecoming of sorts for here. What this meant was that both languages were used in the service, with translation of all parts of the service and the scriptures read in both languages. This adds time to a service. In addition, there were more choirs for the service than usual. In addition to our choir, the guests brought a choir and they had to be given time to present a number of songs and some of the young girls of our congregation had prepared songs for the visitors. One of the songs the guests sang in French was "How Great Thou Art." That spoke all gathered for worship, regardless of the language. Guests provide the opportunity for praising God, so there were a number of choruses as well. During the greetings everyone needed to be introduced so that we all knew one another and were able to worship together, so this took time as well, but was so necessary for good fellowship.

After the preaching, done in French and translated for non-French speakers, came the third element of the service, the commissioning of new leadership of the Presbyterian Students’ Organization. They needed to be introduced and prayed for. They will be the ones who will minister to all Presbyterian students in the area, on behalf of our congregation. This is a significant outreach ministry and needs God’s blessing. It was a delight to share this with our guests, as well.

In all of this, the spirit was one of joy. No one looked at a watch to check the time. No one rushed through any part of the service. Each element was enjoyed as true worship to God. No celebration is complete without food, so after the service, a meal was served to everyone present. We all filed out of the sanctuary, greeted one another outside while the tables were set and the room prepared for eating.  The meal gave a wonderful opportunity for more fellowship and time for the congregation and the visitors to chat. No one was in a hurry to leave after the final speeches, even though it was after 1 p.m. and some of us had been gathered since 8:30 a.m. and our visitors had left home at dawn to arrive in Butare in time It was a day of celebration.