Refugeaster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This Sunday morning's service at Crooked Creek Baptist Church was held jointly not just with the members of Grace Tabernacle, a Congolese congregation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/04\/refugeester.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Refugeaster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Sunday morning's service at Crooked Creek Baptist Church was held jointly not just with the members of Grace Tabernacle, a Congolese congregation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/04\/refugeester.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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{"id":23153,"date":"2014-04-20T14:29:04","date_gmt":"2014-04-20T18:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=23153"},"modified":"2014-04-20T14:29:04","modified_gmt":"2014-04-20T18:29:04","slug":"refugeester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/04\/refugeester.html","title":{"rendered":"Refugeaster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This Sunday morning\u2019s service at Crooked Creek Baptist Church<\/a> was held jointly not just with the members of Grace Tabernacle, a Congolese congregation that has been sharing our building, but with many guests who were here for the \u201cLife After Pain\u201d conference<\/a>. We had our own choir as well as a Congolese choir, and the message was delivered by Pastor Mutima B. Peter.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ During the message, Pastor Peter mentioned that his congregation in Maine is changing its name from \u201cInternational Christian Fellowship\u201d<\/a> to \u201cBethel Christian Center.\u201d I wondered why, but his sermon soon made this clear. Jacob was a refugee. He was on the run in a strange land, and there had an experience of encountering the divine.<\/p>\n

The message also mentioned Esther, considered from a similar perspective. In connection with her story, the point was made about the long-term impact on a society that the children of refugees have.<\/p>\n

I am always delighted when I have the opportunity to hear perspectives on Biblical texts offered by those reading from different perspectives of culture and life experience. Things will be seen that I would not have without their help.<\/p>\n

The service was fascinating as a meeting place of cultures. It began with pretty much no one from the Congolese congregation present. By the time our pastor Tom Bartley offered a benediction and essentially excused the Americans for departing, there were Africans who were still arriving. I was delighted that Americans and Africans alike laughed when Tom told us that a Congolese pastor once said that he is never late \u2013 he is always right where he needs to be at any given time.<\/p>\n

The shared service was a wonderful experience. I hope your Easter has been special too!<\/p>\n

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