Epiphany at Skálholt

© Sarah Wyatt 2015.  All Rights Reserved.

The first stop in Iceland was Skálholt.  Skálholt is considered by many Icelanders to be a holy place.  This location is where the Bishops were located for over 700 years.  During the three days at Skálholt, we have had five lectures, four worship services, and plenty of time for fellowship over meals and coffee.  Of the four worship services we have had, two were morning prayer, one evening prayer, and one communion service (they actually call it mass) on Epiphany.

Worshiping in a foreign language is rough.  During our Communion service on Epiphany, I could tel the flow of the service as it was very close to the ELW liturgy.  While I could tell where we were at in the service, it was hard to follow because of the language barrier and not knowing where to go for the liturgy itself.  I think this holds an important lesson for others.  Even though I know which part of the service we were in based on my previous experience in the US, not knowing where the liturgy was a bit off putting.  It made me feel a bit lost and a bit like an outsider.  I think this is probably how people feel when they walk into a church to look at it and if there is no direction on where to go or what to do.  This impacts how someone would feel in our church and how welcome or unwelcome they would feel.

Aside from the worship language, the service itself was amazing.   Being in a location that has always had a church in the same spot for over 1000 years is a truly a phenomenal experience.  In the US, there is no religious site that has the length of history as Skálholt.  Because of this, it is a completely different experience worshiping in a place like this. This experience made me feel the communion of saints and the Holy Spirit as closer than normal during the Epiphany service. 

O Lord,

You are truly holy and all-loving.  Thank you for this experience.  Thank you for those that we have met and those we will meet in the future.  For all of this comes solely from you.  Be with the six of us as we continue this journey and bless all those who will meet in the coming days.

Amen.