God has a sense of humor

Preaching & Singing (the life of a missiologist)

This post is two-fold so please stay with me and keep moving.

Keep Moving

On Sunday, I visited and preached at the New Jerusalem Baptist Church, an African Independent Church/African Indigenous Church (AIC), in the Pipeline community of Monrovia. During the sermon, “Keep Moving, Don’t Lose Your Confidence” (Hebrews 10:35-39), I talked about the believers’ need to keep moving despite the challenges they face.  I told them not to throw away their confidence because in due time they will be richly rewarded.

Silas, right, serves as my Bassa interpreter as I deliver the Sunday morning message.

The congregation’s response to the message was astonishing.  Two persons gave their life to Christ, five women came forward to express their marital problems and asked for prayer, and five men came forward and confessed that they were living a wayward life and had been trying to destroy the church with their words against the church.     When the Pastor William Boen shared this information with me, I cried.

Members of the congregation watch as parishioners stand in the front of church following an invitation to the faith.

The researcher in me did ask Pastor Boen if this was a typical response from the church?  He said no, the outpouring of people coming forward to acknowledge their actions was uncommon for this congregation.  He said they would be planning a prayer meeting in the next couple of weeks to address the issues that were brought forward by the people.  This is the first time I have seen a congregation focused more on the maintenance (at least in the immediacy) of the church, rather than the persons who have given their lives to Christ.  Perhaps their discipleship classes will speak to the issue of new membership.  More research is needed, but not on this assignment.

 

Leader of the Singers

I can’t sing a lick.  In fact, I can’t even hold a note if given a bucket.  So one can imagine the shock and amazement I had when Pastor Boen asked me to say a few words and lead the robing ceremony for their young adult choir. (It was the first ceremony of its kind.)  I laughed (I was partly embarrassed and partly wondering if he was serious).   He looked at me with a stern face. I smiled.  He raised his eyebrows to suggest, “I’m serious you are going to lead the group”.  The negotiation was finished.  I thought to myself this is participant observation never mind your giftedness. I submitted and did as I was asked! Yes, God does have a sense of humor! 

The senior choir director and I assist a young lady with her robe as Pastor Boen works in the background.

What an amazing experience, robing seventeen young adults.  In New Jerusalem, they have contextualized the robing ceremony as a way to set apart the members of the choir for leadership and special service. It’s like Joseph receiving a robe from his father (Gen. 37:3).  “This robe is a symbol,” Pastor Boen said in Bassa.  “You are being called to leadership and to honor the church through your songs and worship,” Boen exclaimed. 

After receiving their robes, the Sr. choir serenaded the newly decked out young adult choir with songs in Bassa and a series of harmonic hand-claps and foot stomps.  The young adults then stood in front of the altar and were honored by the congregation. 

The senior choir signs a hymn of tribute in Bassa to the young adult choir.

Some choir members are over taken with emotion as they are ceremonially pinned in their hair and on their lapels with gifts of candy, scriptures, and money.  The ritual is a way for the congregation to show its support for the person in the group.

A small girl watches as a family member sings during service.

 

History of the Church

Without being to technical, the church is an offshoot of early Baptist missionaries therefore; it is Baptist by denomination and follows a Baptist doctrine. However, the church maintains their independent role because they are self-supporting, collecting 95% of their financial resources from within the congregation. They are self-governing, in that they have developed their own systems of biblical governance and “traditional” order. They are self-propagating, in that the church promotes activities that will grow the 500-member congregation through schools and community development. They are self-theologizing; Pastor William Boen is one of the leaders that translated the Bible into the Bassa language, the indigenous tongue of the congregation. The congregation maintains its indigenous identity because 99% of its members are from one ethnic group, the Bassa ethnic group. The Bassa people are the second largest ethnic group in Liberia.