Though I missed the Derber and our big welcome ceremony at the Etherean Mission, I did make it to church on Sunday. I dressed in my new Ghanaian dress. It's off white with golden embroidery, long and flowy (a little big...but I can get that tailored) and perfect for church. We were told that the service would begin at 7am with meditation, but that as a group we would catch a bus around 9am and arrive at 10am. The night before Benjamin and his cousin Nicolas and friend Edmond had taken a group of us out for drinks at some local spot. So in turn we invited them to come to church with us the next day. They met us at the hotel and drove separately. We arrived to a pretty standard looking church. There were hard wooden pews, a choir section and a balcony. Up front behind Brother Tetteh was a large movie screen that projected song lyrics and when not being used pictures of Michael Beckwith and Brother Tetteh smiling and shaking hands. The Etherean mission has it's own fabric. It's blue with yellow and white designs featuring Brother Tetteh's smiling face.
Benjamin and I squeezed into a pew with a family of 5 with the cutest children, none of whom had any space boundaries and at various times laid their heads on my knees or climb on top of me to reach their mother. Nicolas and Edmond sat behind us. Though the service had already been underway for three hours (which should have been a clue to me for how long church would actually last) there hadn't been a sermon yet. But first we needed to sing, so we sang When the Saints Go Marching In (many many verses) then Tetteh gave a short sermon and an intro for Michael Beckwith who then gave a short talk about the unity among all religions and really being a participant, not an anticipant in your life. Then Tetteh started telling these stories about these people, but he kept switching pronouns "This sister came to us from blah blah blah and he has served the mission faithfully in the capacity of blah blah". It reminded me of the guess who game that I played with my students when we were studying adjectives. They had to write sentences to describe people and then the class took turns guessing. Well at the end of guess who some body was called to the center of the church and honored by becoming a Knight of the order of Lions. There were men and women knights and you got the sense that in addition to volunteering or serving the church in some way that there was also a financial component to becoming a knight.
This was a long process. Many people were called and there was a laying on of hands for each one. Finally near the end Michael Beckwith was called, but instead of just knighting him, he was actually made a king and wrapped in Kente and crowned. Around this time I glanced behind me and noticed Nicolas and Edmond had gone. They were gone for about 2 hours and best believe we were still there when they got back. During that time, in the grand tradition of black churches everywhere, there were no less than three collections taken. And then there was more singing and some terrible organ music and then Tetteh decided to recognize all the guest by parish. So Agape Members were asked to stand up and so were the people from the church in Oakland and another that I didn't recognize...and randomly (I say this because I am literally the only person from CSL on this trip) he called out Center for Spiritual Living Seattle. I leapt up and let out a Woohoo to represent myself properly.
Then Ricki was honored for being the amazing songstress that she is and we sang an impromptu rendition of I Release and I Let Go. Then both Ricki and Michael's mothers were asked to come down as well as his daughter. Actually I think I'm a little out of order in terms of the sequence of events, but as it just kept going and going it got a little confusing. There was more singing. A duwop group that reminded me a bit of the Ghanaian version of New Edition performed. They were actually really good. And there was more singing from the choir, some in Twi, some in English and a lot of Amens and Yes Lord, Allelujah. Then there was some prayers and after a while I tuned out for a bit to chat with Benji. We talked about his religious beliefs and spiritual practices. He was raised Presbyterian (hence the Christian name), but also with a mix of some spiritual traditions passed on through the Ga. He says his church never lasts much longer than 2 hours.
After yet another song, prayer and member recognition sequence, the doors were closed and we were invited to take some incense, make a wish for the health of the mission and toss it into the fire. As I walked up to the front to receive my incense I kept trying to think of what to wish for. While the service was certainly interesting, it was not at all what I thought it would be like. It didn't move me the way CSL does and if anything it felt much more evangelical than new thought. So I wished for clarity and the highest good for both myself and the mission. As I was walking back towards my seat Rev Michael motioned me over to where he and Ricki were seated. He looked so serious (so kingly in his robes and crown) that I thought surely he was about to bless me with some spiritual information, but instead he said "I love your hair. Did you get that done here? How much did it cost? How long did it take?" I had to laugh. Shortly after this I ran into Alice B making an escape. I followed her out and found the restrooms, then discovered that in a room across the way there were refreshments. Benji and I sat down in the obligatory plastic chairs that always seem to be everywhere, and the Ethereans served us the Ghanaian version of tuna empanadas and pear soda. He called him cousin (there were several people talking on the phone throughout the service) to let him know where we had gone, but when they tried to go into the room, they were denied access. As Ghanaians they were expected to stay in the sanctuary. This was not the first time I had witnessed the seperate standard of treatment reserved for foreigners, but I was a little surprised to have it happen at a place of worship. It was nearly 3pm by then and it looked like church wasn't ending anytime soon, so I caught a ride back to La Palm with Benji and we watched Manchester United VS Fulham on the big screen before heading off to dinner at Peter's.
It was a strange experience, definitely not the one I had prepared myself for. I had come to think of the Etherean Mission as kind of a sister church to Agape and after spending this time praying with the Agape folks, I feel very kindred and connected to their spiritual community, but I did not feel that way at all at the Mission. In fact the more I looked around the crowd at Brother Tetteh's face smiling back at me from all directions, the more it felt cheap and gimicky. It just goes to show, you can't just someone on assumptions you have to figure it out for yourself.
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