It is officially known as the Chikanga East Circuit. The name of Streamview comes from the fact that the church is within sight of a nearby stream that flows during the rainy season.
The church was founded within the last five years. It is a "new church start" from an established congregation--the St. John United Methodist Church, which is located in the same township. The current pastor at Streamview is the Rev. T B Murauro, who is in the second year of his appointment there. He completed work at Africa University in 2007.
At the present time, the congregation is worshipping in what can best be described as a shed, with a galvanized tin roof. It is, as the congregants joke, a "well ventilated" church building, which has any number of gaps and openings through which the wind can blow. It does have electricity, thus providing modest lighting and affording the use of a sound system.
The congregation sits on backless benches rather than pews. Many of the benches were contributed by one or another of the sections into which the congregation is divided.
There is no nursery for infants or young children. The children are situated off to one side, with supervision provided for them. There were at least 150 of them. The youth and adults are seated in the congregation.
On the Sunday I was there, the singing was led by men of the congregation. It was energetic, lively, and powerful. The only accompaniment was a drum and shakers.
It was "Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday," which is a special time for all the United Methodist congregations throughout Zimbabwe. It is a time to celebrate the goodness of God and to make a "special offering" of one sort or another. At Streamview, these special gifts included several bags of cement that will be needed in the continued construction of the church building.
The "Harvest Thanksgiving" service follows the regular service, and it involves a reporting--by sections--of what is being brought. This includes singing, good-natured boasting, and a presentation of a combined gift by the section.
The worship service is ordinarily scheduled to begin at 10:30 am each Sunday. For "Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday," the schedule was adjusted to begin at 9:00 am. That did not prove to be exactly when we started, although there many parishioners present by that time.
The beginning of the service was more or less at 9:45 am. We eventually concluded a little after 2:00 pm.
There is no bulletin distributed to the worshipers. They use the same order of service week after week. It is based on what is found in the United Methodist hymnal--not the 1984 hymnal but the 1964 hymnal. That is available in Shona, and that is what is used.
Hymnals are not provided by the church. Individuals or families bring one to use if they have them. There doesn't seem to be a great need for hymnals, since the songs are all familiar and the service essentially the same from week to week.
Virtually all of the service was in Shona, except for my sermon. I had asked about the possible need for translation, but the pastor assured me that his congregation understood English. In fact, most people in this part of Zimbabwe are functional in several languages--including Shona, English, Manica, and Portuguese.
My sermon that Sunday was based on Exodus 3:1-12, It was perhaps an unexpected choice for such an occasion, but it seemed fitting. Like Moses, all of us experience ourselves "beyond the wilderness." Things seem beyond our capacity to cope, and we find ourselves relying more fully than ever before on God.
For people in Zimbabwe, 2008 was life "beyond the wilderness." It was the worst that anyone could remember. It was worse--at least in some ways--than the years of tension and conflict that led eventually to independence in 1980. The best thing about this year's Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday was that the year was 2009 rather than 2008.
When we find ourselves "beyond the wilderness," we are more ready to notice what God is doing. For Moses, it was a bush that burned but was not consumed.
For me, a bush that burns but is not consumed is the church in Zimbabwe. The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has been on fire for God since the preaching of the first sermon in Mutare in 1897, and yet the church is not destroyed.
People can see--and hear--the work of God through the church in Zimbabwe, and it can speak to them in ways that invite them to become part of that work.
Finally, God called Moses to "set my people free" so that they can "come and worship me." A worshiping congregation is thus the fulfillment of what God intends for us as his people. The worshiping community at Streamview--as well as at First United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS--is thus a sign of God's intended purpose.
I am not sure how well the sermon connected with the congregation, but I do know that I was blessed by the experience. It was not necessarily "beyond the wilderness," but it was a place where the call and claim of God was powerfully present. It was a place where people respond energetically and enthusiastically to the call of God in their lives. It was a place of blessing and hope and possibility.
My hope and prayer is that every place of worship might be such a place--whether in Zimbabwe, the United States, or wherever. May they be places that are on fire but are not consumed!
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