From New Orleans to Cleveland
Today was very similar to last Sunday in structure, but very different in experience. The day consisted of attending a Baptist church in the morning, and then spending the rest of the day on the bus traveling to our next destination. The church we attended this morning was Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. This was now my second experience in a primarily African American Baptist Church, but it was very different from the 16th Street Baptist Church. First of all, the congregation was much larger, as was the building itself. The music at church today was performed by a large gospel choir, and was pretty jubilant with clapping and some dancing. This pretty much fulfilled my expectations about what a gospel choir would be like; the music was lively and contemporary, but more traditional than last Sunday’s. Today’s pastor was a woman, which is something that I am not used to at all, but I thought she was great. She talked about a variety of things, but her main message was about being like Daniel from the Bible. Her message related to the crowd very well, which was pretty diverse in age and much younger than 16th Street. This church was also very contemporary compared to what I am used to, passing out very colorful handouts and cd’s to all of us, and projecting the service and Bible passages on large screens around the church. You can even sign up to receive inspirational messages on your phone everyday! Another very interesting part of the service was right at the end when people were “saved.” There were about 8 people who were saved in front of the congregation, and it was different to see them be touched on the head by the pastor, and then fall back into somebody’s arms. I am not used long services, and this was very long to me because it was over two hours. I think all the singing and the long sermon are what particularly contributed to the length.
After church we got on the bus and spent the rest of the day traveling to the delta region of Mississippi. Cleveland to be exact. The drive was long, and we had a lot of class time with discussion, presentations, and documentaries. It was also interesting to watch the scenery change as we progressed through Mississippi and seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Half the class, myself included, do not have cell phone service here, which is bizarre because of how dependent we have all become on technology. This also demonstrates how we are now in a completely different world from all of our previous stops. Now its time to watch a documentary about a woman who lives in the county we are staying in, and shows the terrible poverty around here. This should be a nice, relaxing way to end the night after a long day and a crazy weekend.