by Dr. U » November 22nd, 2007, 4:10 pm
Really enjoying reading these!
A# minor's story about the kids climbing the security bars in a Mexican church reminds me of many churches I've been in, in Latin America. I learned a lot as a North American about how culture influences how we worship. I lived in Puerto Rico for about 3 years. When my Roman Catholic in-laws were visiting, we would often go to Mass (in Spanish) with them at a local parish; otherwise, we attended both a Presbyterian church in Spanish (PCUSA, but it was really a very charismatic church, basically like an Assembly of God church or a Vineyard), and a Southern Baptist church in English. I've been to many types of Spanish-speaking churches in other places since then, too.
It's intrigued me how, no matter what the denomination, including Roman Catholic, Latin American services run a lot longer and are more ad hoc than most North American churches, the worship tends toward charismatic/dynamic/lots of clapping, again including the Roman Catholics, and, just like A# minor's friends, everyone seems fine with little kids running around.
When I thought about it during my time in PR, I decided it probably was a lot like that when Jesus taught by the Sea of Galilee or in the Temple, kids running around, climbing on things. In fact, after the triumphal entry at the beginning of Passover week, the Pharisees are bent out of shape that little kids are running and yelling in the Temple, "Go, go, Son of David!", and Jesus rebukes the Pharisees, not the kids.
We had lived in Minnesota before I received a job offer in Puerto Rico, and sadly we had some unpleasant experiences when we were checking out evangelical churches in St. Paul/Minneapolis. People were really uptight about small kids in services, and ours were all under 5 at that time. (We always liked our kids to be with us when we were worshipping.) So, once we got used to it, the Latin American alternative was nice, even if consistently a little noisy and chaotic. Our little kids were as welcome as anybody's to wander around, - a very family-friendly atmosphere. It doesn't lend itself to highly academic, abstract sermons, but definitely family-friendly! However no one ever climbed the rejas (window security bars).
