Marimba in Tradition: The Grahamstown Cathedral

Ross and I have been attending church at the Anglican Cathedral, located in the heart of Grahamstown.  Despite the Cathedral's Age (building completed and opened for church in 1830), it has a vibrant and diverse congregation.  The building is absolutely beautiful, as you can see in the picture.  The sense of history given off by its stained glass and traditional architecture is reaffirmed through the traditional liturgy delivered every Sunday by the large clergy represented there.

But, it is not all old Anglican tradition.  The services include a unique and culturally expressive piece: the marimba band.

This is not, however, what your first impression may lead you to believe.  The marimba band is not responsible for leading modern praise songs--services here involve traditional hymns.  Instead the marimba is incorporated in a very special way into the traditional Anglican liturgy.  In a Protestant service, there is a specific sequence of prayer and response practiced when preparing to take Holy Communion:  The presiding minister will present the bread and wine before God and congregation, and the church patrons will respond in prayer, thanking God for the gift of the body and blood.  This is the piece of the service that so beautifully incorporated the marimba band.  The prayer responses are not chanted or spoken, and are not in English.  They are translated into Xhosa, one of the many official languages of South Africa, and sung along to the beautiful marimba.  It is a lovely way to incorporate culture and expression into thoughtful and reverent tradition.  Regardless of your spiritual preferences, a visit to this historical house of worship is well worth it.  
They use the marimbas in the 9:30am service every Sunday.

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday.  As a significant part of the Easter holiday, the service not only provided me with a rich spiritual experience, but a cultural one as well.  There is a point during a protestant service, where time is taken to share the peace of God with the people around you.  It is called 'the sharing of the peace.'  I grew up going to church my whole life and 'the sharing of the peace' has always been the most dreaded part of the service for me...for some reason, the shy and reserved nature from my childhood always comes out of me during that time and I just stand there awkwardly smiling when everyone else is waltzing around the church, shaking hands and hugging, saying "Peace be with you."
So during the service, I was feeling my usual awkward self, slowly walking around and shaking people's hands, not knowing what to do, when a beautiful chorus of voices singing in all different languages broke out from the larger-than-normal-Sunday-attendance crowd.  Before I knew it, the whole Cathedral was filled with voices, ringing out beautifully.  Some were singing in English, some in Xhosa, some in Afrikaans, some in Zulu (probably other languages as well)...and they were dancing.  And it was totally groovy!  It was the kind of thing that you see in movies (especially for me, as I grew up going to Lutheran churches in the northwestern parts of the US, where people do not just break down in full on get-down dancing).

Now that's an experience you couldn't find in America.