Church in Panama

Just over the hill from my Airbnb, a 2 km walk, is the Crossroads Bible Church. I chose this place as my first church visit here because I'm an "Eco Christian", and I like going to a church that I can walk to. Having said that, I've been fortunate in my life to have found really lovely churches that by geographic coincidence suit me well.

The church, seen from the direction I walk

The Crossroads Bible Church is an interesting example of how the history and geographic location of Panama play important roles in the lives of people here. 

The church started about 75 or 80 years ago as the Curundu Protestant Church in the military zone (the canal zone) controlled by the United States.  In 1977, U.S. President Carter signed the treaty that would turn the canal back over to Panamanian control by the year 1999; as a result, sometime after that, the church was told that they would no longer be able to use the same building. The congregation had grown from four people to many more, and they unanimously voted to build a new church. They purchased some land on what the current pastor calls a "swampy corner" -- "rincón pantanoso" -- at the intersection of two roads.  They added stones to build up the swampy corner, built a sanctuary on those stones, and renamed themselves the "Crossroads Bible Church". (For a Christian congregation, the name has added significance, because it also has undertones of "the road to the cross".) The congregation was still mostly English-speaking at this point.

As seen from the corner where cars pass by.
Of course there are still puddles from a recent rain.

In 1999, the US military (and many of the non-military support staff) left the canal zone, and the population of the church changed almost overnight again, with almost all of their English-speaking congregation departing.  Yet again, the church adapted.

Nowadays, the church has two services every Sunday, the first in Spanish (I go to this one so I can practice and learn more Spanish, and also to avoid getting caught in the afternoon thundershowers) and the second in English. Between those two, it has adult Sunday school classes in English. The church maintains two schools for children, one entirely in English and the other in Spanish.

The pandemic was another challenge/growth point for the Crossroads Bible Church, as it was for many other places. The church now live-streams services, so that while many of the attendees are in person, they can also reach people from all over the world.  Attendance, particularly at the second service, is so robust that in October the church will start a third, 6 p.m. (English) service as well. 

When I attended the new members welcoming session one Sunday between the two services, there were 20 or so of us in the room. The countries of origin say so much about who lives in Panama now: there were newcomers from Panama of course, the United States (not just me), Columbia, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Honduras. So many different countries coming together in one small room! 

T-shirts (confusingly called "sueteres" here) are a Thing in Panama, in a way that reminds me of the era of my college days, back when people wore shirts with logos that expressed ideas or affiliations rather than commercial brands.  So it totally fits with Panama culture that all the ushers ("ujieres") wear blue Crossroads shirts, that the missions trip we were commissioning all had matching t-shirts saying "Egypt", and the musicians and singers wear black shirts with white lettering saying 

"Praise & Serve 

 & Sing & Love"

(and that these shirts are available to others who want to get them).  

By another lovely coincidence, the pastor of the church lives less than a block from my AirBnB, and so I've effortlessly joined an every-other-Monday women's bible study that his wife hosts in their multi-generational home.  Pastor Steve was born in the U.S. (I think), and his father was a pastor at this church before he himself took over.  I've very much appreciated the incredible community -- diverse, warm, and welcoming -- that he's nurtured.  Selfishly, I also appreciate that he speaks deliberately, enunciates, and repeats important points often, because I actually understand pretty much everything he says, and even have time to jot down vocabulary he uses that I don't yet know.  Is that amazing, or what?