The Many Faces of Anglicanism

July 13, 2008
This morning Ruth, my host and the assistant priest for this parish, and I left the house at 7:00 to drive to Ceres for 8:00 worship. Last night Victor, the rector, had asked me to preach. So we arrive, greet the lay leaders, and search for the key to the vestry to get ready. St. Andrew's is an upperimiddle class church with traditional tastes. There were about 220 people in worship and we sang old hymns and lots of service music. At the announcements, the warden welcomed me and led the congregation in a song for me: God bless You Today, to the tune of Happy Birthday. It was a wonderfully warm welcome, which took the chill off the freezing temperature. After the service we drove quickly to Wolseley where about 60 people greeted us and sang praise music a capella in their tiny chapel. We came home for lunch and I worked on my presentations while Ruth did one more service for farm workers at one of their mission chapels. We enjoyed afternoon tea with Rose, the warden at Wolseley,and a couple who have recently moved up here from Cape Town. The sermons seemed to go well, although it was hard to tell how much some understood, since Afrikanse is their first language.
A pilgrim makes an offering of self.