We had a Unity Service on Sunday, joining our bilingual service with the group that meets in the main auditorium. The service featured videos of members who spoke different languages (most of them speaking their native language). The prayers at the communion table were in Spanish, Swahili, and Portuguese, translated into English.

Our youth minister, Jason Craddock, did a wonderful job of preaching bilingually. He compared the church to a Cliff Huxtable sweater, a collection of varied fabrics woven together into one functional unit. The variations in textures and colors make the sweater/church the unique entity that it is.

Songs were in English and Spanish, as were all prayers and announcements. Much time and planning went into this service.

I was one who pushed for us to begin these services, then became worried about them becoming too frequent. (we’re talking about doing four this year) All of the feedback that I’ve heard has been good, and the elders have assured me that their experience has been the same.

I was reminded of reality yesterday, though, when a friend from another congregation mentioned having seen one of our long-time members at their church. When my friend greeted this member, the member smiled sheepishly and said, “It’s bilingual Sunday at UCC.” No further explanation… in his mind, that was reason enough for going elsewhere.

Not everyone wants the church to be like a Huxtable sweater, I guess.