I attended the St. Elias Church’s Lebanese Food & Cultural Festival on Friday, April 9th. I bought a meal and ate in the main dining room while waiting to watch the Lebanese dancing to begin.
Around 7:00 pm the youth Sunday school groups performed traditional Lebanese dancing. They broke the groups down from 5 and 6 year-olds all the way to college students. It reminded me of watching elementary school presentations, but I felt at ease despite the difference in cultural representation. Watching the small children perform and try to one-up eachother made me smile. By the time the high school aged dancers performed, the show got a little more serious as the kids focused more on looking good and making it the best they could. The final group, the college students, did a routine that had me thinking of what someone might see at a wedding.
Afterward, I went to a display room where the church had set up displays that told about the history. I learned that St. Elias was a Maronite church, which means that long ago a clergyman named Maron was responsible for leading several churches. Now if a church calls itself a Maronite church, that means it can trace its history to a church lead by Maron. I also went into the sanctuary to look around. Between the towering stain-glass windows hung plaques of the 14 Stations of the Cross. The well decorated altar sat in front on the stage and someone had it taped off so no one could get up there. The minister’s robes were on display and a key stood next to it telling the significance of each part of the garment. Considering that, I think of the differences between the Catholic Church and other Christian communities; it is a subculture within the greater group. Catholics pay careful attention to minute details with a sacred reverence to them that many other groups of Christians do not see as important, but the focus is on giving God the utmost respect. Being in a Lebanese Catholic church put into perspective for me that religion does not limit itself to a single culture or group. It is unfairly stereotypical to assume that the Middle East is all Muslim and that Catholicism and Christianity as a whole is a western trend, especially when Christianity started in the Middle East. What makes the situation so fascinating is the multiple facets of the event: Roman Catholicism, the broad culture of Lebanon, and Birmingham, Alabama, US.
Around 7:00 pm the youth Sunday school groups performed traditional Lebanese dancing. They broke the groups down from 5 and 6 year-olds all the way to college students. It reminded me of watching elementary school presentations, but I felt at ease despite the difference in cultural representation. Watching the small children perform and try to one-up eachother made me smile. By the time the high school aged dancers performed, the show got a little more serious as the kids focused more on looking good and making it the best they could. The final group, the college students, did a routine that had me thinking of what someone might see at a wedding.
Afterward, I went to a display room where the church had set up displays that told about the history. I learned that St. Elias was a Maronite church, which means that long ago a clergyman named Maron was responsible for leading several churches. Now if a church calls itself a Maronite church, that means it can trace its history to a church lead by Maron. I also went into the sanctuary to look around. Between the towering stain-glass windows hung plaques of the 14 Stations of the Cross. The well decorated altar sat in front on the stage and someone had it taped off so no one could get up there. The minister’s robes were on display and a key stood next to it telling the significance of each part of the garment. Considering that, I think of the differences between the Catholic Church and other Christian communities; it is a subculture within the greater group. Catholics pay careful attention to minute details with a sacred reverence to them that many other groups of Christians do not see as important, but the focus is on giving God the utmost respect. Being in a Lebanese Catholic church put into perspective for me that religion does not limit itself to a single culture or group. It is unfairly stereotypical to assume that the Middle East is all Muslim and that Catholicism and Christianity as a whole is a western trend, especially when Christianity started in the Middle East. What makes the situation so fascinating is the multiple facets of the event: Roman Catholicism, the broad culture of Lebanon, and Birmingham, Alabama, US.
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