As opposed to Canadian Thanksgiving, which we celebrated last Wednesday with a large group at the Stone House, today we joined the congregation of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem to celebrate Palestinian Thanksgivings--for Christians on the first Sunday in October. David sang "The Call" by Vaughan Williams ("...Such a Light as shows a Feast, Such a Feast as mends in length...") as part of the Prelude and both of us joined the small choir singing music in Arabic and English for the service (led by a Latvian choir director!) The church was packed, including a leadership delegation from the Presbyterian Church in the USA (including their General Moderator--i.e., national president) and a tour group from Faith Lutheran in Appleton, WI (we knew one of the leaders of their group, Jim Yago). [A side note--the PCUSA moderator, Heath Rada, asked a Palestinian theology student his thoughts on the continuing conflict in the region--the student's reply:
“We need to start in our own hearts and lives and find the peace of Christ in ourselves. Then we can work towards peace in our systems and society, but it needs to start with us.”]
Christmas Lutheran was built in the 1860's by German Lutherans. The limestone building blocks are typical of other Bethlehem (& Jerusalem) buildings, but the stained glass windows depicting Biblical scenes (especially nativity related) are inscribed with Biblical verses in German. The congregation, though, is largely Arab with deep Christian roots in this ancient city. An Arabic inscription has now been added encircling the sanctuary dome: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth." Besides the dome, a tower at the now front entrance ports a tall, inverted-cone shaped pinnacle mimicking the style of Palestinian women's hats at the time of the church's construction. The church has been greatly expanded over the years, and now includes several levels of offices, a school, care services, a cafe, and a guest house (mostly added through the leadership of the church's pastor since 1988, Dr. Mitri Raheb). When it was built, the land around the church was open, but now it is surrounded by a mostly Muslim shopping district--small shops and food vendors on both sides of a narrow street (a "souk" is the name of this Arab style market place.)
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| The "hat" tower (left) and dome of Christmas Lutheran Church |
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| Kathy practicing for the service next to the cornucopia up front |
We celebrated communion and closed with "Holy God we Praise Thy Name", with everyone invited to sing in their own tongue (Pastor Raheb introduced the hymn with its German tune title, "Grosser Gott")--and this congregation really sings with great enthusiasm, be it Arab melodies or German chorales.
After the service, a thanksgiving feast--multiple plates of salads were passed around each table along with pita bread and beverages. Then we lined up for "barbecue"--skewers of grilled lamb (with pine nuts and garlic) and chicken accompanied by French fries (very popular here), an anise flavored liquer ("Arak"--produced by Christians in Bethlehem), a dessert called "knafeh" (sweet cheese wrapped in honey-coated shredded wheat), and fruit to eat or take home (we did :)
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