Social Sunday

Sunday, September 6th (Happy Birthday Garrett!!!)

We went to church this morning at Fitzroy Presbyterian in Belfast where Whitney is serving as a special mission worker and parish associate. It was a bit different from our presbyterian churches at home in some interesting ways. The NIV we have learned is the Bible translation of choice for so many churches here it is called by some the “Northern Ireland Version”. Also one still has to fill out and turn in a communion token to receive the sacrament. We thought this custom had gone by the wayside. For those who haven’t heard of it, there used to be metal tokens given to you by the elder in the church who was charged with care of your family. If there was reason to believe you had sinned, and should not receive communion, you were denied the token and in some cases made to sit in a chair of penance until you were deemed to be truly sorry and ready to right your ways. It reminds me a bit of a time out chair mixed with the public shaming so popular with our puritan ancestors! The tokens here were paper and we had to write our name and address as well as the name of your elder if you were a member of the congregation. They were collected with the offering before communion was served. It was unclear to me what would happen if you didn’t turn one in, maybe it is just a case of an old tradition whose meaning is lost, but which carries on anyway - something the church too often does!

Another difference, which we thought was interesting, is that the tea and coffee after church was served right in the sanctuary. They don’t have a big meeting space that is close to it, so rather than make folks wind their way through the church, they bring the refreshments right in to them. We were offered fair trade coffee or tea along with a variety of biscuits (cookies). It was nice how this practice turned the sanctuary into a place of fellowship with groups of people enjoying a cuppa while chatting with their neighbors.

After all of that, we went back to Whitney’s house. She really likes to cook and can do some cool things in a little kitchen. The first night she had made us bubble and squeek - an English dish of bacon, cabbage, onion and carrot topped with mashed potatoes - mmmm! Today we had a yummy chicken spaghetti for lunch. We were joined by her housemate, Johnny. He is a musician and had been busy with two gigs the day before. It was interesting to chat with him and we all enjoyed the warm and yummy food that took the chill off the cool rainy day.

Our bellies full we decided we didn’t feel like much more than a day around the house getting packed and taking naps. Altho Whitney also made a banoffee pie to take to our dinner party. This is a yummy dessert that consists of a graham cracker-ish crust (they use digestive biscuits instead), bananas, a toffee layer, whipped cream and a bit of chocolate on top. SO rich and SO good!

After a lazy afternoon, Louise and her friend Ian came to collect us. The plan was for all of us to head to Allison’s house for dinner and then on to Louise’s home in Kilrea for the next few days. Louise’s car doesn’t have a trunk (excuse me, “boot”) large enough for all of our bags so her friend graciously came to be our driver for the evening. Next stop the Montgomery household. Allison and her husband Frank have been friend’s with Louise since they were all about 19 years old. They also live in Belfast and have three children ranging in age from 12 - 22. When we got to their house we discovered that Allison had made a real feast! We had a chicken stroganoff dish, steak with peppers, carrots, cauliflower and two kinds of potatoes. This was followed by Whitney’s banoffee pie, a dessert called Eton Mess which is berries, cream and meringues, AND profiteroles and chocolate. And all of that was followed by a cheese course with about 7 kinds of cheese and a variety of crackers. We laughed and talked and ate and learned about one another - us answering their questions about American healthcare and just how far apart Martha’s Vineyard and Yellowstone are, them helping us to understand a bit more some of the layers of feeling about the conflicts they have experienced. We had a grand time and didn’t even realize how late it was till someone looked at a watch and pointed out it was after 1am!! Since our hosts had to get to work the next morning we bade them farewell, loaded up the car headed to Kilrea.

Louise got us all settled into the extra rooms at the lovely rectory and we pretty much crashed, agreeing that we wouldn’t emerge till at least 9 or 10 the next day! What a full day of good food and great conversation!