O.M.G.

So, I just got linked to an article about the new Bi-Lingual worship service that I am helping to build in our area of the state. See Article Here.

I am ASTOUNDED at all of the negative comments. Just a few months ago, I was so excited about the progress made in Nashville and their efforts to deny an “English Only” amendment in the city. And I’m not saying that Iowa is the most progressive place in the world. But I just wasn’t quite expecting the immediate bitter comments.

Please pray for our team as we navigate the landscape around us and continue our efforts to help people pray and worship God in their native tongues and as all of us learn to praise God in the many languages and in the diversity of creation which we were made.

dos lenguas

I have been blessed to be able to work with other pastors in our district on a new hispanic ministry opportunity. We are working to build a monthly bi-lingual worship called “Two Languages, One Flame” and we had our second official meeting to plan today.

We talked a lot about how in many senses, most of us are gringos trying to do this for others. But what is really important is that we do have some partners in the hispanic community who are partnering with us, and we are just the starting point. Ideally, this is a shared cultural experience, where we have the opportunity to learn and worship in Spanish, and the hispanic community learns and worships in English. And as we worship, we help one another to discover gifts and talents and our dream is that a church will be born out of this community.

As we begin planning, one thing we are not aiming for is perfection. =) At least not yet. For me, it is much more important for the worship to be vital and authentic and from the heart – and if we make mistakes in translation along the way, we will laugh together about it and move on. We just want to praise God in two tongues through the power of the Holy Spirit that we share. If we do that, nothing else matters.