"Fenner Bache!!" I shout.
"Yes, yes! The BEST futbol team in Turkey! Where did you get this debit card, it is great!" He asks.
I told him that I had connections in the banking AND futbol world.
Ah Sunday morning in a foreign city. Like most, it is a bit sleepy, the bakeries and coffee shops open early and I am wondering if the the other shops will be open later. But, I am a minister and someone said that there is an English language, ecumenical service in a certain place across the river where we were the other day. I told Makaila it would be a destination and interesting to see how the service went. Besides, I am a bit partial to spending Sundays in church anyway.
We crossed the bridge and headed up the steps in the picture above. (By the way, sorry about the lack of diversity in the photos....it's pretty much "Bob in front of a mosque." "Bob in front of a bridge." Bob in front of a building." I also have one of me accepting an award from the President of Turkey and one from Friday night when I scored the winning goal for Fenner Bache. And one where I am the stand-in double for George Clooney for a romantic nightclub scene with Jennifer Aniston in an action flick set in Istanbul. I promise to post them soon.)
We find the church and are greeted and settle in. The chapel is very nice, with its brick and mortar and stained glass windows. But, I also noticed that they had huge rockin' speakers on each side of the chancel and a pull down screen which when in operation would block out the cross and front stained glass window. The service began. Turns out it is totally run by American Christians for this morning. Looking around, I could have easily been in Ohio judging the people in attendance. I suppose this is a part of the expatriate community in Istanbul. We sang and prayed and wished someone happy birthday. All very nice. All led by Americans, but I am thinking, "OK, fine....hands-across-the-border...it's all good. The sermon began, an American man is preaching; it's on Revelation. The message was on "love." Love for Jesus, love for one another, love for God. It was all good. Lots of love. Then the American preacher starts attacking...let's see if I can remember the list.....he attacked, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Lutherans and when he couldn't remember any more specific denominations he just attacked all mainline denominations in the States. The young American women in front of me are jotting down the God forsaken American Christian denominations with great care. But, the minister assured us that this was all done "in love" and the congregation nodded approval. Then Makaila started nudging me as he went on to chastize all the moral and mortal sins committed by these American Christians (assuring us that he had the love of Jesus in his heart for all of us. And remember, the preacher is American, not a Turkish person in attendance...a smattering of English) It then dawned on me that about half of the things I hold dear were just trashed by this American Christian preacher. He finished the sermon. Another American guy gave the prayer..."praying for true leadership for our national leaders." I thought, OK, that's good. Hands across the border type thing in praying for the leaders of Turkey. But, no, he went on to emphasize that he was praying for "our national leaders in the United States."
Hmmmm. Here I am in Istanbul, ready to understand the "interesection of faiths" in this corner of the world and I am attacked by American preachers. I could have spent my time better watching the Packers or Steelers on satellite back at the hotel or had a root canal. I hate to think how the Roman Catholics or Muslims would fare with this group of Americans. And I have to wonder what hope there is for different faiths to get along when relations are so raw between American Christians. (or at least this group of American Christians)
We left the service after the final condemnation was offered and headed for coffee. An hour later we walked by a huge Roman Catholic cathedral and went in an enjoyed the peace and quiet and crowds and lit a candle (one Turkish lira) to see if there could be any hope for us all. Down the way we walked around a small Mosque where the faithful were gathering. We also went into the vestibule of an old Orthodox church to see if we were welcome. Everyone seemed to be fine with us except for the American Christians.
Note to self: stay with the Catholics, Muslims and Orthodox folks for the remainder of the trip.
We wandered along a very busy main shopping street...about a mile or more....no cars, just a tram and occasional "official" car and small street sweeping trucks. It's a great place to window shop, people watch and just be among the throngs of Istanbul residents and a few tourists. For some reason we went off the beaten path and wandered in some very hilly neighborhoods and back streets. Places where tourists don't venture, but basic city neighborhoods. Very interesting to see and I have discovered that I still have calf muscles because they are aching.
By the way....Istanbul has a fabulous underground subway system. We have not ridden it, but went down and down and down the escalators to the entrance to the trains. Impressive. We could have used those escalators in the hilly neighborhoods an hour earlier. We did take a one mile underground tramway (my description) to get from one of the heights to the river area.
A final thought on Istanbul and religion. If you walk as we did, over in the historic "European" area one can find various Christian churches and a Jewish synagogue and Jewish museum. Like any great city, the cultures and civilizations have come together and co-existed as best as they can. From outward appearances, while the Christians don't seem to be too high profile, they survive in a society that has long since embraced another faith. (Although, after my experience this morning, I too may consider embracing another faith. Good thing all the preaching by the American preacher was done with the love of Jesus, otherwise I would have taken it personal.)
Looking forward to visiting the inside of the great Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia and several other mosques today. I have a good feeling about the upcoming discoveries.
P.S. You can view my winning goal for Fenner Bache on ESPN.
Peace, Bob
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