Urban Church, Global City: Buenos Aires Day One

10/1

Pastor Alvaro Michelin Salomon and Pastor Brashear

My old friend Dennis has come to meet me as I arrive in Buenos Aires. Thanks to landing at municipal airport, we've got just enough time to catch the end of the worship service at the Iglesia Evangelical Reformada de Buenos Aires, or IERBA. (Almost an ironic acronym.) 

La Iglesia IERBA

The soft natural light brings a feeling of comfort and warmth as the sun streams in though a wall with a very subtle cross.

Inside the sanctuary

There is a simplicity here I will come to know as typical Waldensian, reminiscent of the United Presbyterian Church of my childhood.  A simple pump organ supplies music to the hymns, and the pastor, dressed in a simple suit, has a tone that  matches that of the sanctuary.

It's an older crowd, except for Alfredo, who I remember from his visit  to New York, come over from the Flores community this morning. During prayer time, there is much concern expressed about the violent interventions by police in the Catalan independence vote. There are friends  and family ties to Cataluna and the news is disturbing. People are wondering  about that afternoon's Barcelona football game. We will later learn that after much controversy, the game was played behind closed doors in an empty stadium.

After sharing Eucharist, we gather around a table for the breaking of bread and conversation.

after worship conversation

It's very important to the community to share its three roots: not only Italian Waldensian  but reformed traditions from Switzerland and France,as well. Like bringing together Lutheran and historic reformed churches.

They share with their American counterparts the concerns of dwindling and aging congregations and fewer resources to sustain pastors....and buildings.  The challenge of part time pastorates. How and where new members might come from. Deep, deep pride in those roots....but the future?

Dennis and I will have a few hours to rest before taking the overnight bus to Bahia Blanca. We watch the other Catalan team, Espanyol, play the powerful Real Madrid. The Espanyol captain's arm band is the Catalan flag, a quiet statement of resistance.