{"id":71371,"date":"2019-03-10T22:47:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T04:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=71371"},"modified":"2019-03-10T23:44:27","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T05:44:27","slug":"iran-4-going-to-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/iran-4-going-to-church.html","title":{"rendered":"Iran 4: Going to Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tehran,<\/a>
Tehran is much more populous, of course, but, during my stay in the city, I was struck by the area\u2019s resemblance to Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It seems to me that I\u2019ve told this story somewhere before but I can\u2019t find it, so I guess that I\u2019ll tell it. \u00a0Again, perhaps.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a few days at our conference in Tehran, some of us Westerners began to think about Sunday\u2019s coming program. \u00a0It was crammed full of meetings. \u00a0No time set aside for religious observance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was the only Latter-day Saint in the group. \u00a0(Heck, for all I know I was the only Latter-day Saint in all of Tehran at that time, or in Iran as a whole.) \u00a0But several of us were religious, and we didn\u2019t like the idea of missing Sunday services altogether. \u00a0Moreover, we thought it important to send our Iranian Shi\u2018ite Muslim hosts a message, that not all Westerners are godless amoralists.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So we asked the Foreign Ministry people whether there was any way for us to attend church. \u00a0No, they said. \u00a0The Sunday program was too full. \u00a0Well, we asked, how would you<\/em> feel if we<\/em> were to host a program and to schedule meetings solidly through the Friday noon prayer? \u00a0Oh, they replied. \u00a0We see your point.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So they eventually arranged for a van and driver to take us on Sunday to a small expatriate Catholic church on the other side of Tehran (which is a very large city).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we arrived at the church, the priest (a Spaniard, as I recall) was thrilled to see us. \u00a0He was especially happy that one of our number was Father David Burrell<\/a>. \u00a0The people in his congregation, he said, were so sick of him. \u00a0Would David be willing to celebrate mass in his place? \u00a0So David found some suitable vestments and officiated. \u00a0Several in our little group were Catholics, so they felt right at home. \u00a0Two, I think, were Episcopalians. \u00a0This was pretty familar to them, as well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I found myself seated in the back of the church, alongside the young Iranian Foreign Ministry employee who had come as our escort. \u00a0Early on, he leaned over and confided to me that this was the very first time that he had ever been inside a Christian church. \u00a0Could I possibly explain to him what was going on? \u00a0So I did my best.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I remember thinking at the time how funny it was to have a Latter-day Saint providing a running commentary on the Catholic mass to a Shi\u2019ite Muslim in the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 It seems to me that I\u2019ve told this story somewhere before but I can\u2019t find it, so I guess that I\u2019ll tell it. \u00a0Again, perhaps. \u00a0 After a few days at our conference in Tehran, some of us Westerners began to think about Sunday\u2019s coming program. \u00a0It was crammed full of meetings. \u00a0No […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[437,864,66,1769,1110,4018],"class_list":["post-71371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christianity-and-islam","tag-iran","tag-islam","tag-muslim","tag-persia","tag-tehran"],"yoast_head":"\nIran 4: Going to Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    It seems to me that I've told this story somewhere before but I can't find it, so I guess that I'll tell it. \u00a0Again, perhaps. 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