John Bridge's Travelogue: Day 4

 

Worship service at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ramallah. Ramallah is an Arab town in what is known as the Occupied Territory. St. Andrew’s is a parish in the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East. Our group worshipped with the parish’s congregants today. The small church was full and vibrant. (Christianity in Israel is in sharp decline, however. Fifty years ago, over 20% of the country’s population was Christian. Today, it is under 1%.) The service was performed in a combination of English and Arabic. Of the four hymns we sang, three (“How Great Thou Art,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” and “The Church’s One Foundation”) are familiar to most American Protestants. We Americans sang in English, and the local congregants sang in Arabic. The local congregants also sang a hymn in Arabic that was unfamiliar to us. 

I was honored to read the Epistle from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (“What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.”) The church’s rector, Father Fadi Diab, delivered a sermon - alternately in English and Arabic - on the Gospel of Luke’s passage in which Jesus tells us, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Mother Julia and Mother Posey Krakowsky also celebrated the service with Father Diab. The service was very emotional, and some of our pilgrims admitted to crying during the service. We joined the local congregants after the service for a wonderful coffee hour and lots of discussions.

We then had another incredible lunch, after which we returned to St. George’s Cathedral. There we had an informative talk and discussion about Islam by Firas Amad, a Muslim scholar. We finished the day with dinner and the Anglican evening service of Compline, which contains the following beautiful prayer: “Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.”