Despite my best efforts, I am not entirely sure what the letters EFS stand for literally. "Evangelical Homeland Mission" church is what it means. More importantly, Brenda and I have a pretty good idea of what they stand for doctrinally. We have been worshiping with them since our first Sunday in Sweden.
We very much enjoy the spirit. Each Sunday, we sit on the back row with headphones in place, where faithful congregants sit in a booth in the balcony translating the Swedish into English for us. It is a labor of love, but a labor nonetheless.
Each service starts with tintinnabulation, a word I don’t get to use very much. This is usually followed by a prayer and a hymn, followed by an Old Testament reading, followed by a New Testament reading, followed by a Gospel reading. It is a liturgical approach similar to the Episcopal service in USA. We like that it clearly ties the OT to the NT. It grounds the sermon in Scripture.
Most services, we have Communion, in which everyone who chooses to participate comes forward and drinks from a common cup (there's a dipping option too). There is something very "communal" about Communion done this way.
Service starts at 11, with the sermon typically finished by about noon. We typically say the Apostle’s Creed, and often pray the Lord’s Prayer. After the sermon are the announcements, sometimes with special prayer or other community activities.
CS Lewis noted the wonderfully cyclical nature of the Church calendar. A feast and a fast are cycled through the year, but each one is distinctive. The rhythm is there and a great comfort I don’t really understand.
The thing we like best about worshiping here is the fellowship we share in The Christ. We usually worship separated from our home congregation by 7 hours of time zones, and several thousand miles, but very close in spirit. Miles and hours apart we worship the same G^d, the same L^rd, empowered by the same Spirit.
What an amazing, amazing comfort to share in the Body of the Christ!
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