Hej!
A common greeting for people of all ages in Sweden and it reminds me of how I was introduced to my first congregation in Vårby Gård Kyrka of Sankt Mikaels Forsamling in Stockholm Diocese.
Greeting Swedes would be normally done with a handshake but apart from the gestures, there is a must do. While uttering your name and giving a handshake, eye contact is very important and for me it is meant to show sincerity enclosed in the greeting.
Home was what I felt when I attended my first service and the congregation members were very glad to have us being the first exchange program participants to immerse in their parish.
Hej Hej!
After being introduced to the congregation, church workers and priests, it was like easy to move around and I began to help in my most simple way in the conduct of services and in some outreach programs by playing the recorder and they have given me opportunities to sing my heart out with the aim to inspire people and to praise God.
Every time I attended the service, it was lively and inspiring though I did not understand so much about the hymns but the tunes were enough to explain the messages conveyed. Good thing, I could read music sheets so I learned the melody in a quite easy way but I had to take an extra effort in practicing the pronunciation of the Swedish words.
There were services with no choir but the church musician was quite powerful in encouraging the faithful to praise God through the hymns. I always loved congregational worship and this parish has been very good in showing me such type of service.
Apart from the congregational worship, the presence of kids in church signaled the growth that soon the parish would be faced. The kids are not only educated through Sunday school but they are also engaged to assist in the Mass by serving as choir members, symbol bearers during the offertory and closing processions and most of them take part in distributing communion with the priest.
The regular attendance of kids is a big contributor to the growth of the church attendance. Kids have become used to attend church on Sundays and it was the parents who followed the children in this aspect.
I was not able to attend Sunday service with only a few kids. One thing remarkable with kids in the parish, they would really come to church on their own, if their parents were busy.
Why is this happening? I could share a few reasons and first of which was the relationship that the kids had with the Sunday school teacher and also with the other children. They almost didn’t want to go home after choir practice on Wednesdays.
Yes, you’ve heard it right – relationships. More compact and genuine people to people relationships are the best way to increase church attendance.
People who feel at home with each other will find a way to meet their church friends or shall I say church family on a weekly basis and that would be during the Sunday Mass. Their ministry to the kids has extended to the parents as they are having their annual family camp.
Hej då!
Bidding goodbye to the church family where I stayed for more than forty days was difficult and I almost shed tears while talking to the congregation during my last Sunday Mass in the parish.
I really am sick with goodbyes. In fact, while writing this blog, tears just fell from my eyes thinking about those nice people I met and the fruitful experience I had with them.
But I need to move on with life and embark on a new journey in a different setting. Memories will always linger in my mind whenever I see pictures, watch videos and hear the hymns reminding me of the wonderful time I had in my first host congregation.
What I would miss would be playing the recorder during the Mass, singing, attending the kid’s choir practices, and lastly, sharing faith, life and music with the congregation.
Hej! Hej Hej! Hej då Vårby Gård Kyrka! Tack så mycket!
//Klein F. Emperado is one of the exchange students in the exchange programme ”Young in the World Wide Chuch” 2014. During three months he will be spending time in Sweden, sharing life, faith and every day life. Klein is a Mass Communications graduate from Silliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines and also he works as Editorial Assistant for the said university. In the exchange he represents the Philippine Independent Church/Iglesia Filipina Independiente. His line of ministry is focused mainly on Liturgy and Music for the Diocese of Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
// Klein F. Emperado är en av deltagarna i utbytesprogrammet Ung i den världsvida kyrkan 2014. Under tre månader delar han vardag, tro och liv med människor här i Sverige. Under sin första månad spenderar han tid i St Mikaels församling i Stockholms stift. Klein har tagit examen i masskommunikation vid Silliman University, Dumaguete, Filippinerna och han jobbar idag som redaktörsassistent för nämnda universitet. I utbytesprogrammet representerar han den Filippinska oberoende kyrkan (Iglesia Filipina Independiente). Hans stora intresse och inriktning innom kyrkan är främst liturgi och musik för stiftet i Negros Oriental och Siquijor.
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