Halleluja, Praise the Lord

Sunday morning in Nashville, half of the population is on their way to church and so are we. Bob, who kind of polarizes our group because he sure needs a lot of attention, knows somebody who is in a black Baptist church and so we just went to the 11 o'clock service this morning. The sun was shining down upon us and the trees were in full bloom. When we arrived there, the church was about half full with people in their best clothes. If you remember the Coen brothers movie, The Ladykillers, the church scene there is actually not so unrealistic as I had always thought. You come in and immediately you notice the difference to a normal European church. There are fans hanging from the ceiling, in the center there are seats for the choir and they have a real band with drums and all. In the beginning a few members of the choir sang a little warming up accompanied by the soul organ and the band. I thought the choir only consisted of three singers but then the actual service began with the marching in of the choir. Everybody stands up and starts clapping to the really loud music of the band and choir. Judging from the sound, you would think you're in the middle of soul and gospel concert. It is so loud.

Then the guests were welcomed by the congregation, we stood up and Bob introduced us. They responded with lots of clapping and amen. What was particularly striking there was the lack of quietitude and formality. To another groovy, repetetive tune all the members of the church walked around and shook hands. People would stand up and start clapping or rocking if they wanted to. Some ladies used their order of service booklets as fans or actually had brought their own ones (like in the movie) and it is only the beginning of spring here. Unfortunately we had to leave the service after one hour (which is still warm up time), which hopefully did not offend the church-goers, who were obviously happy to see foreign guests in their service. The overall impression I got from the church was that it is centered around the music and emotions, which can certainly be moving. It was an interesting experience, which probably cannot be made in a German church but next time I would stay till the end.

Downtown Nashville from the Belmont parking house

Brad, the Inter Fraternity Council President and member of Alpha Tau Omega