Cultural Immersion
Cultural Immersion Project Part II
Sylvia Hayes
I attended an Atlanta Mar Thoma Indian Church service and a social fellowship honoring Senior citizens. The church service started at 10 am. When I arrived to the parking lot, I introduced myself to a young lady by the same of Sarah who was cordial enough to answer all of my questions concerning the service and invited me to the fellowship later. The service lasted for 3 hours. I noticed their central theme throughout the service was unity and harmony. They also followed a central pattern of call and response. The preacher would make a statement and the congregation would respond by reading the appropriate response on overhead screen. A lot of the recitations included asking God for forgiveness for their sins. They also had prayer and communion.
During the senior citizens celebration, several people talked about the importance of the seniors. They talked about the seniors’ contribution to life and how they should be taken care of. Then all seniors sixty years old and older were asked to come up front for their recognition. Initially, no one would come forth. A member of the congregation had to escort those people who he knew were a senior to the front of the building. For some reason, they seemed embarrassed about going up front for such recognition. Once they were in front of the congregation, they were all given flowers. Then the microphone was offered if anyone wanted to speak. Some shared some funny stories. Afterwards, both preachers of the church, the permanent one and the other who traveled both spoke and prayed over the seniors. At the end of the ceremony, they had dinner.
From my readings and internet explorations from part 1, I learned that Native Americans are truly spiritual people who believed in building a community of togetherness. During the church service, they stressed this same concept over and over again. They continuously prayed and recited confessions about unity,
Sylvia Hayes
I attended an Atlanta Mar Thoma Indian Church service and a social fellowship honoring Senior citizens. The church service started at 10 am. When I arrived to the parking lot, I introduced myself to a young lady by the same of Sarah who was cordial enough to answer all of my questions concerning the service and invited me to the fellowship later. The service lasted for 3 hours. I noticed their central theme throughout the service was unity and harmony. They also followed a central pattern of call and response. The preacher would make a statement and the congregation would respond by reading the appropriate response on overhead screen. A lot of the recitations included asking God for forgiveness for their sins. They also had prayer and communion.
During the senior citizens celebration, several people talked about the importance of the seniors. They talked about the seniors’ contribution to life and how they should be taken care of. Then all seniors sixty years old and older were asked to come up front for their recognition. Initially, no one would come forth. A member of the congregation had to escort those people who he knew were a senior to the front of the building. For some reason, they seemed embarrassed about going up front for such recognition. Once they were in front of the congregation, they were all given flowers. Then the microphone was offered if anyone wanted to speak. Some shared some funny stories. Afterwards, both preachers of the church, the permanent one and the other who traveled both spoke and prayed over the seniors. At the end of the ceremony, they had dinner.
From my readings and internet explorations from part 1, I learned that Native Americans are truly spiritual people who believed in building a community of togetherness. During the church service, they stressed this same concept over and over again. They continuously prayed and recited confessions about unity,