107 years of witness on the Westside!

Two years ago I read an announcement about, and then attended, the worship and celebration at Mexican Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of its 105th anniversary. I was charmed by the little bilingual church on the Westside. Eventually I became a member, while retaining membership in Alamo Heights Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which the year previously had celebrated "only" its 50th.

Yesterday, Sunday, Mexican Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) celebrated its 107th anniversary as an organized church congregation. We also celebrated the 81st anniversary of the church building. Some time back I found out, to my surprise, that not only is this congregation the first Spanish-speaking Disciples of Christ church nationwide, it's also the oldest Disciples congregation here in San Antonio!

The morning worship was blessed and delightful! We had probably three times the usual number of worshippers in attendance. This included both of our regular preachers of the past year or so, Andy Villarreal and Desiderio Del Pozo, and their wives. With a little encouragement from one of our congregational leaders, I led us at the opening with five praise songs instead of the usual three. And all thru the service there was an atmosphere of reverence before the Lord and thankfulness for the over a century of Christian witness here on the Westside. Also, I noticed that most of the men were wearing suits and ties; usually during the summer only the preacher would wear a suit and tie, and I would be the only other man even wearing a necktie!

One feature of the annual anniversary worship service at Mexican Christian Church is the presentation of the "Disciple Award" to somebody. This time it was presented to Robert Santana, a life-long member and one of our Elders, along with his two sons. These three men have done much work to keep up our 81-year-old building. In fact, only a week or so earlier they had stripped, cleaned and re-waxed the downstairs floor.

And downstairs we went after the Benediction, to enjoy the traditional anniversary dinner. As is true of EVERY church meal I've ever attended -- to include Emmaus events -- the food was plentiful and delicious. And I must confess that I ate too much. In fact, the piece of birthday cake I took remained partly uneaten, I was that full! And I did my traditional after-dinner custom at Mexican Christian Church: there is a fairly new (to the church) sofa beside and below the landing for the steps up out of the fellowship hall (to go to the chapel or to further stairs up to the main sanctuary). This sofa is VERY comfortable to rest upon -- especially with a full stomach. I take full advantage there of the terrific custom that the Spaniards bro't to the New World: la siesta. Perhaps I could start a new dicho or saying for Spanish-speakers: Después de en la mesa fiesta, al sofá para buena siesta. That is, "After the party at the table, to the sofa for a nice nap!"

¿Qué piensas, querido lector de habla español?