Glow Sticks in Church

As spiritual and amazing as church was, it was also extremely bizarre. This week is the pastors birthday and the church had a celebration for him during the service. The only song we sang in English all morning/afternoon was a drawn out lounge version of "Haaapppy Birrrtthhdaaayyy." The pastor's family was escorted to a couch which had been dragged on stage and sat watching the festivities unfold before them. A trumpeter with about as much skill as my sister after her weeklong venture into the instrument died along with the elephant shrills she produced in our basement. There were banners and dancers coming down the aisle and many signs throughout the congregation that were lifted high and waving. My favorite were the Obama style "Change You Can Believe In" with a picture of their pastor preaching. Someone even had a blown up picture of his head on a tongue depressor. Several people had colorful umbrellas that they were twirling to create a hypnotic element. Four men carried a rick shaw styled flat that had a cake on it and delivered flowers and gifts to the pastor and his wife, who were shown on the projector as if they were olympic figure skaters waiting for their scores. I felt like I was watching a Korean Soap opera because I had no idea what was going on. However, all of this paled in comparison to my favorite part, before I knew it the lights were dimmed and people had glowsticks and were waving them around. There was a team from New Zealand and another from California and they were just cracking up. I finally got my glow stick and waved it around. When things calmed down the congregation (about 250) went up to the pastor to thank him and his family for their work and heart for the church. It was a bit odd and overwhelming, needless to say. Not quite the same pastor and "First Lady" style worship I'm used to in black churches, but it was interesting, quite culturally different than anything I've ever experienced in church before.