The International Church of Copenhagen

A couple of comments and emails recently have reminded me that I haven't really spoken about the central aspect of what has made our transition to Copenhagen so smooth and relatively painless. When we were here for six weeks last year, Michael walked to the closest church that offered English language services and discovered the church we now attend - The International Church of Copenhagen. We were only here for a very short amount of time and we had no idea if we'd ever be coming back, but despite that we were invited over for coffee, out to lunch, for dinner, given warmer clothes for then two-month-old John and were invested in and, well, loved in a way that really surprised and overwhelmed us. In my limited experience, it usually took us at least six months in a new church to gain that level of connectivity.

It's an interesting dynamic being part of a church where the only two things everyone holds in common are the ability to speak English and the belief in the deity of Christ. Denominations are so divided in the States that, before we arrived here, I never really had a sense of the notion of the "church universal" that went much beyond a very small handful of specialized Protestant denominations. I've really appreciated the opportunity to worship and study beside people who come from such diverse spiritual backgrounds.

We've been incredibly blessed by the people in the church during our stay here. The pastor's wife who met us at the airport when we arrived with paper Danish flags of welcome. A sweet lady I'm in Bible study with who pulled me down to her basement shortly after we arrived to give me a huge Sam's Club box of Cheerios for John. There have been play dates, access to Tivoli season passes, detailed explanations of the differences between a carton of Danish half-and-half and whipping cream, game nights, caroling and so many other things that have added up to Denmark not feeling like such a foreign place after all.