When planning our time in Mexico City a year ago I had a church mapped out, not too far from our apartment, that is the same denomination as we attend in the U.S. (Lutheran). This particular congregation even advertised a bilingual service – cool! I emailed the address listed on their website and didn’t get a response, but this didn’t worry me – a lot of people are bad at online communication. Plus, worship times were clearly posted on their website and on their Facebook page.
Things went a little bit awry. First, when looking at a map of Mexico City, I soon learned that what didn’t look like too far was in reality a 20 minute car ride … and we don’t have a car. But Uber is cheap here, so.
Second, the US pastor who led the bilingual service moved away and everything is in Spanish only. We know some Spanish, though, and can use this as a chance to improve our skills.
Our first weekend in Mexico City, we took an Uber to church, and arrived only to find the front gate closed and locked. Not to be deterred, we walked around the side and to a side gate. There were a couple of folks inside that heard our voices and opened the gate. No church today, all the pastors are at some event at another location. Will there be church next week at the same time? Yes, they assured us.
The next weekend, success. We arrived a few minutes early, gates open, doors open, and were greeted inside by the pastor and some other members. The service was all in Spanish and was projected on a screen in the front which made it easy to follow along with the hymns and responsories. The sermon was a challenge to keep up with, but I did get the gist. Interestingly, many of the hymns were familiar tunes, just with lyrics in Spanish. The liturgy was largely the same words, but in Spanish, and sung to different tunes than at home. So aside from the language, the entire experience felt very familiar.
There was a cafecito on the front lawn after service where everyone chatted before going home and we talked with a Brazilian couple (in Spanish, not Portuguese!) about our respective home countries. All in all, a good experience and I’m glad we were not deterred.
