Lucea Church of Christ / Singing in Jamaica
Lucea Church of Christ
Inside the Lucea Church of Christ building in Lucea, Jamaica. This was after the last service on our last evening there in 2009. Most everyone had left already, and we were waiting on our van back to Montego Bay, because they had used it to take a few of the church members home.
I believe the “557” written on the board was the number in the songbook for the invitation song that evening. And you can see by the names on the backs of the chairs that some of them belonged to other congregations on the island, too.
Photo location: Lucea Church of Christ, Lucea, Jamaica
HDR from a single RAW file, tonemapped in Photomatix, edited in GIMP
Singing in Jamaica
For some reason, I was thinking about the worship services at the Lucea Church of Christ. It is interesting what you remember after trips such as that.
On some occasions, I was asked to lead singing for the worship services. And although most of the songs they sing are the same ones that we sing here in the United States, sometimes they sing them just a bit differently. Usually, it is that they have a slightly different rhythm pattern that they use at times.
It’s not something I think about all the time, now. But occasionally we will sing one of those same songs in our worship service. Or one of those songs will just come to my mind at random times. And when such a song comes up, I immediately think of how we sang it in Jamaica. Perhaps it is because it is just slightly different from how I’m hearing it now. Or perhaps it is because those song versions stuck with me more than I thought they would.
When I start hearing a song in my head in that Jamaica style, it always brings a smile to my face. And then I remember standing up there leading those songs, and looking out to see the church members there. I remember a couple of people in particular who had such joyful expressions while singing those songs. Obviously enjoying the chance to sing those songs in praise to God.
And it makes me smile even more.
