by JRosemary » April 3rd, 2007, 3:58 pm
I was telling a friend of mine how my Conservative synagogue was engaged in a 'clergy swap' with a black Baptist church in town. My friend gave me a look and said, "Clergy swap, huh? You know, I'll be that's no where nears as risque as it sounds."
Being the innocent that I am, it took me a minute to catch up with his meaning!
But this 'clergy swap' has turned out to be a wonderful thing. Our rabbi met the Baptist minister at a Clergy Association meeting and the two of them hit it off. They started talking about being guest clergy at each other's services.
So one weekend our congregations swapped clergy--the minister preached at our synagogue during our Saturday morning service (bringing lots of his congregation with him) and on Sunday our rabbi preached at their church during their Sunday morning service (bringing lots of our congregation with him.)
I think that both congregations were--well, not frightened, but maybe a little intimidated. There's something daunting about services in Hebrew, especially when you're not familiar with them. And there's something equally daunting about the 'Gospel style' of a Baptist church when you've never experienced it.
But it worked out great. I think we learned more about each other--and how much we share, despite our different traditions.
Tonight, our synagogue is hosting a second night seder for both congregations. It seems a popular idea--last I heard there were so many people going that they were worried about where to fit everyone.
At any rate, I just thought I'd share this because it's been so good to see the two congregations joining together. That's not to make light of the differences--it's just to celebrate what we have in common and what we can learn from each other.