Take me to church

The service at the Cook Islands Christian Church did not disappoint…

The service was mostly in the local Māori dialect, but every now and then we got a little explainer so we could sort of keep up. The church, built in the 1820s, was the standard rectangle shape. But the altar was in the middle of the long side… religion in the round.

The best was the singing. Here’s a couple of snippets:

The choir / congregation was always led out by a startlingly beautiful, keening soprano voice. Then everyone else joined in, one part at a time. Magic. And they sang every verse of every hymn, so you really got the experience. I never saw a conductor, but there may have been one around the other side.

We got our money’s worth… a full hour and a half. The sermon was about David, and how even when the world is against you, God is still with you. Seems like a good philosophy… although I can’t help thinking that the ruling class would really really like the workers to buy into it.