Ok. It's been a while. I just haven't had anything to say. Deal with it.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to run A/V for an Ethiopian Orthodox group that had rented the
Northlake building. It was an interesting experience.
First off, we were told it would start at 2:30. They actually got going around 3:30 but the people were still coming in at 8. They probably had 350 to 400 attending at their peak.
The women and most of the children sat on the right and the men on the left. Most of the women had their heads covered with scarves.
There were six men that I think were clergy and three more that I believe were laymen. I can't be positive because everything was in Ethiopian and I couldn't even identify books of the Bible in Ethiopian. I did pick out China, Japan, and Alexandria, Virginia when the keynote speaker said them. And he was a good speaker. He even held my attention and those four words were the only ones I knew.
The singing was different. One or two of the clergy would sing (the verse maybe?) then the congregation would sing (possibly the chorus). They had two drums and one other instrument that was played somewhat like a cello, but it didn't sound like a cello. The music was structured somewhat like a chant with more variety in notes. It was VERY repetitious. I jumped the first time the women started ululating but quickly got used to it. Since women outnumbered the men almost 2 to 1, the ululating was pretty loud.
They started with a chorus of sorts, 6 young men facing 6 young women on the stage, all dressed as royalty. As they sang/chanted, 3 men and 3 women walked back and forth across the stage facing each other.
Periodically they would stop singing and one of the clergymen would talk for a few minutes. None of them used any notes and everyone paid attention to them. Then they would sing some more. The keynote speaker started around 6:30 and talked until nearly 9. Then they had what appeared to be an altar call only they raised their hands instead of going forward. When someone raised a hand, an attendant would go to them with pencil and paper and get information.
The final activity was the collection. Two of the choir members came out with colorful umbrellas which they opened and carried upside down as they meandered around the room and people tossed money into the umbrellas.
Once they ended the service the people cleared out quickly, although there were a number of them chatting in the parking lot when I left.
And I know people who complain if the service runs over 60 minutes total.
