What we believe... Rose... Sunday 11 March 2012

Today I went to St Monica’s in Kanana, a township of Orkney, near to Klerksdorp. I went with Andrew and Sam, the Bishop and his family. The service was mainly in Tswana, but also some English and some Xhosa. The music seemed to have an ‘African’ rhythm and arrangement with a lead singer and group responses.

I was fascinated to watch how Bishop Steve and the interpreter worked together to communicate the message to the congregation; when he spoke in Tswana, she spoke Xhosa, when he spoke English, she spoke Tswana and when he spoke Xhosa, she spoke in Tswana. They switched languages within the same sentence, moving fluidly from one to the other. The whole thing seemed to be organic; the two speakers weaving their speech together. At times, as the Bishop increased the volume and speed of his speech, as for example, when he was emphasising a point, the interpreter would raise her voice too. Sometimes they were both speaking at the same time, overlapping the stream of words. I asked him afterwards if interpreters were selected because they had a particular gift with language. He said that this particular interpreter was lay reader in the church and therefore was a preacher herself; she knew where Bishop Steve was ‘going’ in his sermon and believed passionately in what he was saying. It was therefore easier for her to help him to communicate this to the listeners.

I couldn’t help thinking about my job as a Speech and Language Therapist in the UK. We often work with interpreters to communicate with parents, carers and clients. The therapist and the interpreter need to work closely together. This relationship works well if the interpreter knows where the therapist is ‘going’ with his/her questions or observations. Interpreting isn’t just translating the speaker’s words: An effective interpreter knows the purpose of the interaction and helps to communicate this.

I must have had my Speech and Language head on that morning because I also noticed that I could read the Tswana words in the Liturgy and the hymn book (though the longer words and sentences were difficult for me).  The written Tswana matched the spoken Tswana, so I could read it without understanding it. I could match the responses to the familiar English responses being used at St Andrew’s church in Great Wyrley that morning. This was especially evident in the Nicene Creed, when we say what we believe as Anglicans. It struck me that the Anglican Church is a worldwide church whose members all repeat the same creed in whatever language they communicate in. The last part of the service is when the Minister sends the congregation out ‘in the power of the Holy Spirit to be a living sacrifice’. I realised that that is the most important thing for me…..to not only say what I believe with the world church, as in the creed, but then to try to do what I am then called to do as a result of that belief i.e. to offer my soul and body as a living sacrifice.

It has been such a privilege to take part in the worship of so many Churches in this diocese. I am so grateful to our hosts for sharing their lives with us and in particular their journey with Jesus. The Sunday services are different from each other and are different again from the services I take part in at home, but when it comes down to it we can all say the same creed and we are all trying to serve the Lord Jesus in our daily lives.

Rose