Beijing South Cathedral...

Tonight I headed over to a Chinese language mass at Beijing South Cathedral, the oldest Catholic church in Beijing and the seat of the Beijing Diocese. The following is a church visit report in the style of The Mystery Worshipper from http://www.ship-of-fools.com/

The Church: Beijing South Cathedral, properly known as The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception or more commonly as The South Church and Nantang Cathedral. This church is most familiar to foreigners as it is the only one to have an English language mass on Sunday mornings.

Denomination: Patriotic Catholic Church of China (So named as per law they are not allowed any outside religious leadership, so the Catholic churches in China are officially independent of Rome)

Building: This is a massive cathedral in a bustling city area of Beijing. Just minutes from Tianenman Square and is Beijing's oldest church. I wish I had pictures to show you of the beauty of this church. The above picture is from the internet but you really should see it lit up at night.

The Cast: A priest, some acolytes, a choir

Date And Time: Saturday October 4, 2008, 6:30 PM

Name of Service: Saturday Night Mass

How many in attendance: Several thousand, every seat was taken.

Did anyone welcome you? An usher at the door handed me a bulletin and said Nei Hao.

What about the pew? Wooden pew with attached kneeler, very uncomfortable, but most of the service was done standing.

Pre Service Atmosphere- Reverent but busy with people praying, parishoners awaiting confession outside confession booths, and the choir and band rehearsing

Exact opening words: A man said something in Chinese. Then I think he welcomed visitors, some people stood and were clapped for, so I stood too. Each person standing was handed a postcard with an icon of the Virgin Mary on it.

Books? None, however a very thorough service booklet was provided (all in Chinese)

Musical Instruments? Acoustic guitar, piano, and drums

Any distractions? The beauty of the cathedral and a little girl wearing Satan horns. Why Satan horns in church?

Worship Style? Fairly high/formal novus ordo mass in Chinese with contemporary music. There were some low elements as well such as the congregation joining hands on a fellowship song and swaying back and forth to the music. One word to describe the service though: joy. I have NEVER seen Christians worship with such joy.

Sermon Length: 15 minutes

Sermon Topic: No Idea, I think it had something to do with Jesus. I think I heard the word ditie in the sermon, but I don't know why he was preaching about the subway. You could tell he was quite a capitvating speaker and quite a funny guy from the crowd's reaction.

What was like being in heaven? JOY

Anything you didn't like? The plasma screens placed throughout the cathedral really don't enhance the decor although they do make the service easier to see when you are far back.

Anyone speak afterwards? No, but during the peace people were very cordial.

After service coffee? None, so I headed over to Wangfujing and tucked in to a New York Steak at Outback Steakhouse

Would you make this your church home? I am not Catholic, so no. I would like to visit their English service one day just for the experience of worshipping in this beautiful church in my own language.

Did this service make you glad to be a Christian? Yes, knowing I can worship God even though I can't understand a word of Chinese was a great feeling.

What will you remember most? The joy of this church at worship, and the devil horns.