DAVID HARTIG
Singing N
a new tune
From coast to coast, worship languages expand By Sandra Guy
ext time you pass a church where the congregation is praising God in an unfamiliar language, don’t be surprised if it’s an ELCA worship service in Swa-
hili, Amharic or Oromo. Richard Vevia Jr., pastor of Calvary Evangelical Lutheran in San Diego’s Oak Park neighborhood, recalls
Guy is an ELCA member and reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. 14 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
At Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Diego, it’s not unusual for members, like Simon Alli and Tracy Vevia, and visitors to worship in languages from 12 countries on any given Sunday. Increasingly, if Lutherans aren’t worship- ing in English, it’s not German or a language from Scandina- via that they’re using, but more likely Spanish or Swahili.
a man of Southeast Asian descent standing on the church patio reading a brochure about Lutheranism that he’d picked up. To his right a praise team was singing contem- porary Christian music in Spanish, and to his left was a service in Swahili with drums. As the man left shaking his head, Vevia said, “I wondered what he was thinking.” Calvary partners with the ELCA’s Ethiopian Evan-
gelical Christian Church and holds three services each Sunday: one each in English, Swahili and Amharic (Ethiopian). The church also serves as host to services for an English- and Spanish-speaking congregation and a Nigerian-led independent evangelical congregation. On any given Sunday, Calvary’s members and visi- tors represent countries such as Burundi, the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
And in New York … Jack Horner, director for evangelical mission with the Metropolitan New York Synod, said the metro New York area continues to be a melting pot for the world. “I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface of
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