Saturday, April 01, 2006
V. Easter Sunday with Copenhagen's Unitarians [originally posted Tuesday 25 April 2000]
Spent Easter Sunday worshiping at the Unitarian Church in Copenhagen (which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year), and had a terrific experience. Caught the 6:31 train from Aalborg, which put me into Copenhagen at 11:00 am, in plenty of time to poke around the city a bit before the 2 pm worship service. I'd read in one of the Tourist Information magazines that Danes play pick-up basketball at a playground called Israel Plads near the Jewish Synagogue, so I wanted to stroll by there and "check out the competition," but the result was very disappointing: four backboards, all of which were scrawled over with graffiti (and one missing its rim), a horrible, uneven concrete playing surface, no nets and (naturally) no players...at least not at noon on Easter Sunday. Somehow, though, I don't think they were simply all in church.
Continued north to the Botanical Gardens, then crossed the street to Rosenborg Slot and Kongens Have ("The Kings Gardens"), Copenhagen's oldest public park, where I found another basketball court, this time occupied by soccer players playing a lively game of four-on-four. Somehow it wasn't quite the same. As I walked on to the grounds of the Slot ("Castle"), one of the armed, uniformed soldiers there came to attention: must have been something about my dark aviator sunglasses, newly-shaven chin and determined gait which evoked a primordial martial spirit; almost instinctively, as I passed his post, I returned a snappy salute that would have done Bill Clinton proud, even in North Carolina. Decided against going into the Castle itself and checking out the crown jewels, because I didn't feel that I had the time to do them justice and not be late for church, so that too will have to wait another day.
Arrived at church about a quarter of two just as the first people were showing up to open the doors. I'd been rehearsing my introduction on the train (>>Jeg hedder Tim Jensen, og jeg er en Unitaren Praest fra Portland, Oregon i USA<<), so I was able, at least, to carry on that much of a conversation. The building itself is a lovely landmark located just up the street from the US embassy, and inside the sanctuary there is a famous fresco of the Good Samaritan in the alcove behind the pulpit The congregation has just successfully negotiated with the city of Copenhagen to purchase the land on which their building stands, which has stretched them quite a bit financially (since unlike the Folkekirke, as a "frikirke" or "free church" the Unitarians receive no government support), but has insured the long-term future of the church, since under the terms of the previous agreement, the building itself would have also reverted to the city when the lease on the property had expired.
I found that I was able to follow the service (in Danish, of course) remarkably well. The Danish Unitarians have their own Salmebog (most of which was apparently written by the congregation's original minister, Thorvald Kierkegaard), and I even picked up the gist of the sermon, which (as I suspect was true in a lot of Unitarian churches last Sunday) revolved around various interpretations of the literal vs symbolic nature of the Resurrection, and focused on the theme of "the old dies, the new lives." Attendance was only around 35 however (out of a congregation of about 100 members), which I was told was a little lighter than normal, and which reflected the fact that, in Denmark, Easter is a four-day holiday weekend.
The best part of the service came afterwards, when we all went downstairs to the fellowship hall and sat around a long table, where (after a few obligatory announcements) we drank coffee, ate delicious coffeecakes, and participated in something called a Debat-Cafe -- essentially a sermon talk-back, where everyone had a chance to grill the speaker about his remarks. Talk about something "universal" about Unitarianism! The discussion was quite good-natured and animated, and I was even tempted to chime in myself, even though I only had a vague idea of what folks were talking about (not that I've ever let that stop me before). But I couldn't come up with the Danish word for "body," and I didn't want to ruin the mood by breaking into English (which I suspect would have been understood by those in attendance much better than my pidgin Danish anyway).
In any event, what I WOULD have said goes something like this: "When the Apostle Paul speaks of Christ's body, often times what he is talking about is the Church, the 'Body of Believers' who symbolically eat Christ's Body and drink Christ's Blood, and who say, as Paul himself said, 'It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.' And when we sit around this table, and eat together and drink together, and talk together about things that are important to us, I know in my heart that we share the same spirit and are 'One Body,' even though we speak different languages, and come from different lands."
I also found out that there is another Timothy Jensen in Denmark, a well-known professor of religious studies, who has actually spoken at the church himself. Apparently one of the things he said here was: "You Unitarians. You believe in everything, and you believe in nothing. Where is your future?" My response to my namesake: we don't believe in everything, and we do believe in some things, but mostly what we believe is in the authority of personal religious experience disciplined by the light of human reason. Mysticism Disciplined by Reason (or as we used to say at Harvard, "Faith Seeking Understanding"); and our future is the future of all humankind: an openness to the intensely powerful, life-transforming experience of the sacred, but (ideally) protected by our own skepticism from the more extravagant excesses that experience sometimes carries in it's wake.
OK, I suppose that's enough preaching for the week. But as you can see, I found my first visit with these Danish Unitarians very inspiring, and hope to find the chance to get back there again before it is time for me to return to the U.S. And at least I will be bringing home with me an authentic Danish Unitarian Flaming Chalice lapel pin, and a book bag, and my very own copy of the Unitarens Salmebog, some of which I may even try to translate into English someday.
It's a brisk 30 minute walk from the Unitarian Church back to the Copenhagen railway station, which I discovered firsthand when I tried to make it in 25. Rather than sulking on the platform, I decided to spend the better part of an hour across the street at Tivoli Gardens, that quintessentially Danish amusement park located in the heart of downtown Copenhagen. Boy I'm glad I missed my train! Bought myself a soft ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles and simply wandered around inside this city-block-sized haven from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Watched a parade, checked out some restaurant menus for possible future visits (my favorite so far is an open-air restaurant on the deck of a replica of an old-fashioned square-rigged sailing ship floating in the pond on one side of the park), and generally had a nice, relaxing pause before my four-and-a-half hour train ride back to Aalborg. Got back home just in time to catch the tail-end of my neighbor Tatiana's birthday party; there's nothing like a little chocolate cake and a nice, cold Påske Øl to mark the end of a delightful day. God Påske! ("Happy Easter!").................twj
The Frigate at Tivoli
Spent Easter Sunday worshiping at the Unitarian Church in Copenhagen (which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year), and had a terrific experience. Caught the 6:31 train from Aalborg, which put me into Copenhagen at 11:00 am, in plenty of time to poke around the city a bit before the 2 pm worship service. I'd read in one of the Tourist Information magazines that Danes play pick-up basketball at a playground called Israel Plads near the Jewish Synagogue, so I wanted to stroll by there and "check out the competition," but the result was very disappointing: four backboards, all of which were scrawled over with graffiti (and one missing its rim), a horrible, uneven concrete playing surface, no nets and (naturally) no players...at least not at noon on Easter Sunday. Somehow, though, I don't think they were simply all in church.
Continued north to the Botanical Gardens, then crossed the street to Rosenborg Slot and Kongens Have ("The Kings Gardens"), Copenhagen's oldest public park, where I found another basketball court, this time occupied by soccer players playing a lively game of four-on-four. Somehow it wasn't quite the same. As I walked on to the grounds of the Slot ("Castle"), one of the armed, uniformed soldiers there came to attention: must have been something about my dark aviator sunglasses, newly-shaven chin and determined gait which evoked a primordial martial spirit; almost instinctively, as I passed his post, I returned a snappy salute that would have done Bill Clinton proud, even in North Carolina. Decided against going into the Castle itself and checking out the crown jewels, because I didn't feel that I had the time to do them justice and not be late for church, so that too will have to wait another day.
Arrived at church about a quarter of two just as the first people were showing up to open the doors. I'd been rehearsing my introduction on the train (>>Jeg hedder Tim Jensen, og jeg er en Unitaren Praest fra Portland, Oregon i USA<<), so I was able, at least, to carry on that much of a conversation. The building itself is a lovely landmark located just up the street from the US embassy, and inside the sanctuary there is a famous fresco of the Good Samaritan in the alcove behind the pulpit The congregation has just successfully negotiated with the city of Copenhagen to purchase the land on which their building stands, which has stretched them quite a bit financially (since unlike the Folkekirke, as a "frikirke" or "free church" the Unitarians receive no government support), but has insured the long-term future of the church, since under the terms of the previous agreement, the building itself would have also reverted to the city when the lease on the property had expired.
I found that I was able to follow the service (in Danish, of course) remarkably well. The Danish Unitarians have their own Salmebog (most of which was apparently written by the congregation's original minister, Thorvald Kierkegaard), and I even picked up the gist of the sermon, which (as I suspect was true in a lot of Unitarian churches last Sunday) revolved around various interpretations of the literal vs symbolic nature of the Resurrection, and focused on the theme of "the old dies, the new lives." Attendance was only around 35 however (out of a congregation of about 100 members), which I was told was a little lighter than normal, and which reflected the fact that, in Denmark, Easter is a four-day holiday weekend.
The best part of the service came afterwards, when we all went downstairs to the fellowship hall and sat around a long table, where (after a few obligatory announcements) we drank coffee, ate delicious coffeecakes, and participated in something called a Debat-Cafe -- essentially a sermon talk-back, where everyone had a chance to grill the speaker about his remarks. Talk about something "universal" about Unitarianism! The discussion was quite good-natured and animated, and I was even tempted to chime in myself, even though I only had a vague idea of what folks were talking about (not that I've ever let that stop me before). But I couldn't come up with the Danish word for "body," and I didn't want to ruin the mood by breaking into English (which I suspect would have been understood by those in attendance much better than my pidgin Danish anyway).
In any event, what I WOULD have said goes something like this: "When the Apostle Paul speaks of Christ's body, often times what he is talking about is the Church, the 'Body of Believers' who symbolically eat Christ's Body and drink Christ's Blood, and who say, as Paul himself said, 'It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.' And when we sit around this table, and eat together and drink together, and talk together about things that are important to us, I know in my heart that we share the same spirit and are 'One Body,' even though we speak different languages, and come from different lands."
I also found out that there is another Timothy Jensen in Denmark, a well-known professor of religious studies, who has actually spoken at the church himself. Apparently one of the things he said here was: "You Unitarians. You believe in everything, and you believe in nothing. Where is your future?" My response to my namesake: we don't believe in everything, and we do believe in some things, but mostly what we believe is in the authority of personal religious experience disciplined by the light of human reason. Mysticism Disciplined by Reason (or as we used to say at Harvard, "Faith Seeking Understanding"); and our future is the future of all humankind: an openness to the intensely powerful, life-transforming experience of the sacred, but (ideally) protected by our own skepticism from the more extravagant excesses that experience sometimes carries in it's wake.
OK, I suppose that's enough preaching for the week. But as you can see, I found my first visit with these Danish Unitarians very inspiring, and hope to find the chance to get back there again before it is time for me to return to the U.S. And at least I will be bringing home with me an authentic Danish Unitarian Flaming Chalice lapel pin, and a book bag, and my very own copy of the Unitarens Salmebog, some of which I may even try to translate into English someday.
It's a brisk 30 minute walk from the Unitarian Church back to the Copenhagen railway station, which I discovered firsthand when I tried to make it in 25. Rather than sulking on the platform, I decided to spend the better part of an hour across the street at Tivoli Gardens, that quintessentially Danish amusement park located in the heart of downtown Copenhagen. Boy I'm glad I missed my train! Bought myself a soft ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles and simply wandered around inside this city-block-sized haven from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Watched a parade, checked out some restaurant menus for possible future visits (my favorite so far is an open-air restaurant on the deck of a replica of an old-fashioned square-rigged sailing ship floating in the pond on one side of the park), and generally had a nice, relaxing pause before my four-and-a-half hour train ride back to Aalborg. Got back home just in time to catch the tail-end of my neighbor Tatiana's birthday party; there's nothing like a little chocolate cake and a nice, cold Påske Øl to mark the end of a delightful day. God Påske! ("Happy Easter!").................twj
The Frigate at Tivoli
# posted by The Eclectic Cleric @ 6:33 PM 
