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| 1789: St Bonaventure,
Manomet, Massachusetts, USA |
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Mystery Worshipper:
Andy the Albanian.
The church:
St
Bonaventure, Manomet, Massachusetts, USA.
Denomination:
Roman Catholic, Archdiocese
of Boston.
The building:
St Bonaventure stands in an open space to the west of Route
3A, the main road that links the disparate parts of the beach
community of Manomet. It's a light, airy, open plan building
that dates from 1951. The timber frame is visible inside and
visually divides the space into nave and aisles. The small sanctuary
has a freestanding altar with a dramatic woodcarving covering
the back wall and the cross of the resurrected Christ as its
centerpiece. In the northeast corner, the space widens out to
accommodate musicians.
The church:
The parish began life in 1950 in the dining room of a local
restaurant. It's now a lively and active parish serving a beach
community with a mix of year-round residents, weekenders and
holidaymakers.
The neighborhood:
Manomet encompasses a string of beach communities to the south
of historic Plymouth, landing place of the Pilgrim Fathers in
1620. They probably wouldn't have expected there to be a thriving
Roman Catholic parish here almost 400 years later. Pilgrim Station,
the only operating nuclear power plant in Massachusetts, is
located in Manomet. The Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences
conducts original research on various programs such as wildlife,
forest and marine conservation.
The cast:
The Revd Kenneth C. Overbeck, pastor, celebrated mass, with
the assistance of two music leaders whose names weren't announced.
The date & time:
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 16, 2009, 11.30am.
What was the name of the service?
Mass.
How full was the building?
About three-quarters full.
Did anyone welcome you personally?
Greeters aren't really a Roman thing, so we found our own way
to our pews. After the opening words of the service, we were
invited to greet and welcome our neighbors by name, which everyone
duly did.
Was your pew comfortable?
It was fine. The air conditioning was at just the right level
on a hot summer day.
How would you describe the pre-service
atmosphere?
Quiet and reverential (the babies will have been at the 10.00
family mass), with very little chat.
What were the exact opening words of the
service?
"Good morning, and welcome to St Bonaventure as we prepare
to worship our God."
What books did the congregation use during the
service?
A combination missal and hymnal called Breaking Bread 2009.
Not simple to navigate, but very practical for those who know
the form.
What musical instruments were played?
Two guitars.
Did anything distract you?
The sheer speed with which Father Overbeck galloped through
the liturgy was distracting, although amazingly every word was
intelligible thanks to his good diction and a good sound system.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or
what?
Mainstream Roman Catholic: modern worship songs and liturgical
music in a relaxed atmosphere, but framed by the liturgy of
the mass.
Exactly how long was the sermon?
Twelve and a half minutes.
On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
9 – The pastor slowed down his breakneck pace for his homily,
and left the sanctuary to speak without notes from the floor.
He has an accessible but not dumbed-down style, gimmick-free
and very easy to listen to.
In a nutshell, what was the sermon
about?
In a nutshell, the eucharist. In John's gospel, Jesus says that
he is the Bread of Life. The epistle reading from Ephesians
reminds us that the eucharist was part of the life of the church
from earliest times. One of Jesus's first post-resurrection
acts was to break bread with his friends. In John's gospel the
evangelist develops a consistent message of trust in the God
who creates and can recreate. And if Jesus can multiply the
loaves and fishes and walk on water, as earlier passages in
John tell us, he can surely change bread and wine into his body
and blood. And so in the eucharist we receive the all of who
Jesus is. All of our ritual around the eucharist is about preserving
the institutional memory, reliving the told story of the gospel.
In return, we get the great promise of eternal life and Jesus'
presence with us.
Which part of the service was like being in
heaven?
It was a great sermon. The songs were good, and by Roman standards
the congregational singing was good too. I was especially struck
by the gusto with which the congregation joined in the Lord's
Prayer.
And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
The prayer for the "restoration of the sanctity of life
and marriage in our Commonwealth." The Commonwealth of
Massachusetts was a leader in recognizing gay partnerships.
This jarred somewhat with my inclusive Anglican nature.
What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?
The building was essentially empty by the end of the final hymn,
and there was no one to see me looking lost. I sensed that this
church doesn't so much try to draw you into their community
as wait for you to step forward for deeper involvement.
How would you describe the after-service
coffee?
There was none.
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
9 – There are a lot of parish activities to get involved
with. The preaching is good. There is good lay involvement in
worship. And then there's the fact that I would need to live
in Manomet with its gorgeous beach on Cape Cod Bay.
Did the service make you feel glad to be a
Christian?
Definitely, and specifically glad to "receive the all of who
Jesus is" in the mass.
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
The reminder that in the mass we're entering into 2,000 years
of shared experience of Jesus. |
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| One of our most seasoned reporters makes the Camino pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Read here. |
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