#Trànsits 2024-2025 (chronicle of the autumn sessions: The Evangelical Church of Philadelphia)
The third edition of the “Trànsits: músiques de l'esperit” [Transitions: Music of the Spirit] series of events, organised by the Museu de la Música de Barcelona and the Religious Affairs Office at Barcelona City Council as part of the ”(Contra) Natura [(Against Nature)] season at L’Auditori began in October with the activity “The Music of the Philadelphia Temple de la Mina Church”. The activity consisted of an open worship session with the Temple de la Mina Philadelphia Evangelical Church, and a discussion to both introduce and reflect on their musical and spiritual practices.
Historically, music and sound have been an essential part of different beliefs and spiritualities, and are found in numerous religious practices and customs. Since ancient times, music has been a means of transcendence, both for individuals and as part of collective and participatory celebrations. Therefore in sound many commonalities can be found that foster communication and understanding between diverse communities.
The “Trànsits: músiques de l’esperit” [Transitions: Music of the Spirit] programme organised by the Museu de la Música de Barcelona and the Religious Affairs Office as part of the”(Contra) Natura” [(Against) Nature] season at L’Auditori aims to explore, disseminate and celebrate the musical practices of different religious communities in Barcelona. This year, the programme is celebrating its third edition, seeking out “spaces that cultivate a socialisation structured around cohesion and shared convictions, spaces where music forms the link, where it becomes sharing”, said Jordi Alomar, director of the Museu de la Música, in an interview for the OAR’s blog.
These ideas of sharing and collectivity were precisely what lay at the heart of “The Music of the Philadelphia Temple de la Mina Church”, the first activity in this new edition.
THE MUSIC OF THE PHILADELPHIA TEMPLE DE LA MINA CHURCH
On Saturday 16 November, the Temple de la Mina Philadelphia Evangelical Church held an open worship service, inviting everyone to discover the customs and practices of Philadelphia Evangelical tradition, characterised by the singing and participation of the faithful during the service. A few days before the service, on 14 November, there was a discussion session dedicated to introducing and reflecting on the links between spirituality and music in this denomination, especially within the gypsy community, which forms the bulk of the congregation. The discussion was moderated by Horacio Curti, ethnomusicologist and professor at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), with the participation of María Jerusalén Amador López, a sociologist specialising in the role of gypsy women in the Philadelphia Evangelical Church; activist, intercultural and community mediator and member of the Philadelphia Evangelical Church, Mariví Cortés, and Rafael Fajardo, pastor at the Philadelphia mission and community mediator.
Fajardo began by talking about the time when this church was founded, when French Pentecostal pastor Clément Le Cossec preached to a “very needy” gypsy woman, and then through her, also to other members of the Roma community, who were travelling from Portugal and Spain to France for the grape harvest. On their return, and thanks to the close communication and community spirit of the Roma people, the message spread to all of the Roma communities on the Iberian Peninsula. This laid the foundations for the establishment of the first branch of the Philadelphia Church in Balaguer, which was followed by the appearance of many others all over Spain. This rapid expansion of the faith was due to the fact that the Roma people found in it an alternative to the Catholic churches, which were “closed to us for daily worship because of the classism of the white majority who rejected us”, said Mariví Cortés. Moreover, “Passion is part of our way of being”, said Cortés, and this “didn’t fit with the liturgy of a church in which everything is very rigidly defined”. In fact the Roma people are not traditionally Catholic: “We gypsies are deeply religious because we’re very passionate, and this can be applied in any religion”.
And according to Maria Jerusalén Amador López, Pentecostalism offered them the space and freedom that the community longed for in its spirituality: “It’s a more flexible tradition that allows the integration of the idiosyncrasies of an ethnic minority like the Roma, reconfiguring it so that they can make the liturgy their own”. It’s structured in line with the “biblical canon”, said Fajardo, where “first God is praised, and then the word is shared; first the spirit is soothed, and then the preacher takes a text from the Bible, adapting it to make it relevant to our lives”. Music plays a vitally important role throughout the service: “We gypsies have always expressed ourselves through music, which has led us to create a music of praise that is truly our own”, said Fajardo. These expressions may be of joy “with lots of traditional hand-clapping (palmadas con rumba)” where the whole congregation “pour their hearts and souls into it”, or of awareness, as in the song Lléname de ti, a hymn to the evangelical gypsy community that Fajardo sang during the discussion.
The dialogue also addressed the role of women in the Roma community and the associated stereotypes. “Roma people are labelled as sexist, but Roma women are driving social transformation”, said Amador, “and they are doing so from within the Church”. The speaker said that despite the fact that these arguments had been dismissed in some forums, “the reality is that the churches often constitute safe spaces for these women“. In fact, women play a prominent role: they lead the conversion process within the family, they’re the main speakers, they’re the very heart of the church. They choose the songs, and they do the Sunday school work. “What’s more”, added Cortés, “the pastor’s wife is very important: she gives advice, she looks out for the congregation. It’s felt that the pastor alone isn’t able to respond to all of the community’s needs”. From these perspectives, Amador explained, women have social influence: “We are leading a change, a silent and often silenced feminist revolution”.
On Saturday 16 November, an open worship service was held at the Temple de la Mina Philadelphia Evangelical Church, with those attending having the opportunity to enjoy a service in which various important members of the Catalan Roma community took part. The service was a way of making it possible for people in Barcelona to learn about the Roma community of the Philadelphia churches, particularly by highlighting their social function and their importance in terms of awareness raising, as well as by focusing on the experiences of gypsies in La Mina, for whom the church is not just a place of worship, but also a space for the vindication of their culture.
