Photographs of Friends from Durham and Portland (Maine) and Velasco (Cuba); an original story told in the manner of Godly Play; hymns sung in English and Spanish; ocean waves ... these were just some of the elements of an experimental, bilingual, inter-generational Zoom worship on Sunday, 13 February 2022.
Beginning with the story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter’s challenge to his Lord, Friends in Portland and Durham created a bilingual worship service to be offered as a gift to our sister meeting in Velasco, Oriente Province, Cuba. In the week before worship, packets of materials which included origami paper with instructions for making a boat, copies of the hymns we were singing, and valentines were delivered to families in the two Maine meetings. A packet was sent to Velasco as well.
Worship began with a welcome in both English and Spanish from Mary DeSilva (Portland) to those gathered as slides of pictures from Durham and Portland Friends Meetings and Velasco Friends Church were shared on screen.
A video of a Faith and Play story based on Matthew 14 ran twice, once in English and once in Spanish. Beth Collea (Dover, NH, Friends Meeting) wrote and recorded the story in English; Bart Czyz (Portland) recorded the story in Spanish. Following a period of "Wondering Questions, during which there was rich sharing by children and adults alike, Friends were encouraged to watch and listen to a video of waves as they settled into expectant, waiting worship.
Worship also included two hymns, played by Nancy Marstaller and sung by Kitsie Hildebrandt (both from Durham) in both English and Spanish: Somos El Barco/We Are the Boat and Lord, You Have Come to the Seashore. Worship ended with a joyous closing as Friends unmuted and greeted each other.
The worship service was recorded and carried to Velasco Friends Church by the delegation attending Cuba Yearly Meeting annual sessions.
This was definitely an experiment, and we couldn’t have done it without tremendous technical assistance from Luke Hankins (Portland). It wasn’t perfect, but feedback was positive. As one planner said, “it was truly a joyful, deep and wonderful time of connection and reflection.” We’re looking forward to the next experiment with whole-community worship.