Methodist-Presbyterian Church

On September 4^th, a week ago from today, I visited my first church. It was from 7 am till 10 am (but actually went till 10:45) and took place in the Central Cafeteria where I have one of my classes. Its about a half hour walk- so I got up around 6 to get ready and then headed over. It was a Methodist-Presbyterian Church that a guy told me about when he was trying to convince me to check out Campus Crusades (the Christian Group on campus which I will also be checking out once I have a spare moment). I brought my journal with me so that I could write down some notes and my bible also made it over to the service as well. There was definitely over 400 people there, at least. And I saw only one other white person. Intimidating? Yes.

There was a large choir that walked in singing with purple robes. The girls were wearing what looked like graduation hats as well…but I never found out why the guys weren’t. Some people were also wearing sashes which meant they were ushers (the nice man next to me told me that). I apologize in advance- this entry may be a little choppy but I want to cover everything I wrote down. In the beginning of the service we had to look to the person on either side of us and say, “you are favored”. Interesting. There was no greeting time (but I may have just missed it cause I was slightly late…haha) but I learned that the pastor’s name was John K. Avorgah (at least the one who was speaking that day).

Side note: One question I must ask about is if ALL Ghanaians grow up going to church. One night this week when Maggie and I were walking back with a few guys to our dorm they asked us what religion we followed and a conversation ensued about church. He said, “it is unheard of for a Ghanaian to say I don’t remember the last time I went to church”. It was bad. Interesting. I cannot say that that is a bad thing in America. Hmm.

Fun fact: I could hear the music from another church. That’s how many churches are on Campus and in Ghana. Yay. Haha.

Another question, how do reverends not lose their voice after every sermon? THEY ARE SCREAMING. I feel like this man’s vocal chords were going to break in half. I noticed that similar to church in the US, people do still text and drift off to sleep. I think it must be easier here because of the heat and the length of the service. But they sang so much in the service. Multiple hymns (some in Twi), some solos within the hymns, some songs from the choir…I’m willing to bet we sang over 20 songs. Something I’ve noticed in Ghana as well- there is never a quiet moment. Music is ALWAYS playing. At five in the morning, during performances, at four in the morning, inc hurch, during the sermon, literally all the freaking time. It’s a good thing I like music, right?

There were many times during the sermon were there was individual prayer, or after hymns and such. People would get really into the prayers like thrashing around, hands clasping their face, all crying out to God. It was really intense. Lots of movement as well. They bend over and shake, rock back and forth constantly, etc. After the sermon, 5 people were invited up to the microphone to ask questions about the sermon. The reverend actually went out and chose people from the audience. I kind of liked that idea. He had a powerpoint going throughout his sermon which was really nice because sometimes its hard to understand when Ghanaians speak. Just like how they can’t understand Americans. Haha. We both talk very fast, but in very different ways.

I think my favorite part of the sermon was when the choir came up at the end and sang a more pop sounding song. A female soloist came out and teared the solo apart. It was incredible! Definitely my kind of singing. We were all sitting down at this point but random people in the congregation stood up and started to dance and sing along. It was nice to see that they really don’t care what people think about them. When Ghanaians want to dance, they dance. There is no stopping them.

So yes, Church number one. This weekend I wasn’t able to go to a service because I had a trip. But next weekend, stay posted for another service. I’m trying to try out different ones every week. Lord knows they have another around here for me to witness.

A few other tidbits:

I was wrong to think that men wouldn’t hit on girls in church simply because we were in church. Two young men sat down next to me named Frederich and David. Both very talkative. And slightly creepy. No, I will not give you my number during the service. Haha

Also, during the service papers were passed around and people signed up for groups and meetings. One asked you to sign if you were a Presbyterian. Interesting.