Sunday in Latvia

This is our first Sunday in Latvia, and we not only went to church once -- we went twice!  We didn't intend to, but I wanted to go to the Riga Cathedral (also known as the Dome church), and we thought the service started at 10:00.  Well, it did -- the German service, anyway.  It was held in a small part of the church.  We sat through that, and as we were leaving, I heard this wonderful choir singing in the main sanctuary.  It turns out that it was the choir from Milliken University in Illinois.  We had heard them last night at a concert in St. Peter's Church, but we had no idea they were going to be at the Riga Dome Church this morning.  Anyway, the service in the main sanctuary started at noon, so we stayed for it and got to enjoy the Milliken University Choir a second time.  The church is Lutheran, and I have directed music at two Lutheran Churches, so I was able to follow along a little bit, anyway.

The churches here are phenomenal.  They are old -- usually dating back to the 16th century or earlier. The insides of them are nothing but wood, brick and stone, so the acoustics are great.  The stained glass windows and other ornaments (froufrou, as I call it) are beautiful.  Below are some pictures so that you can get an idea of what the Dome Church is like.

Here are two of the stained glass windows.  I don't know if you can see them or not, but they are not pictures of Christ as in most churches.  We don't know what they are for sure, but they might be pictures of the Crusades or of Martin Luther and the Reformation.

Here is the altar.  It's quite ornate -- nothing like we are used to.

Here is the podium.  If you were scared of heights, it would never work to stand up there.

Last, but certainly not least, here is the organ.  It is under reconstruction and will not be finished until next year.  The organ, however, is playable.  It is a mechanical organ and takes more than one person to play it.  I couldn't get up close on Sunday, but I emailed the music director at the church a few months back, and I'm hoping that when I get in touch with him again, he will take me upstairs and see it.  The organ has a tremendous history to it, as does the church.  

While they had a visiting choir there Sunday, I think the choir normally stands up by the organ -- at least that's where the Milliken choir was on Sunday.  It would be great to be able to stand up there and sing.  The choir is mostly hidden, though, by the high balcony wall.  All I could see were a few heads.

As we visit other churches, I will add pictures of them.  There are many, many churches here in Old Town, and I want to try and visit as many as possible.  There is even a Methodist Church in Central Riga.  We will definitely try and go there.  I found out on the internet that there is a church in Tennessee that takes a mission trip to the Methodist Church here in Riga every other year, so I am hoping that they are coming this year.  If they are, and we are here, we will definitely go then.

Uz redzēšanos!