Around forty Swedes joined the special service in Christ Church to welcome Lovisa Möller, their new priest at the Church of Sweden in Bangkok on Sunday 5 April, 2009. Among the participants were the Swedish ambassador couple but also the Norwegian ambassador couple, several other Norwegians and a few Danes and Finns, reflecting the subtitle “Church for Scandinavians in Thailand” which the Church of Sweden in Bangkok officially carries.
The service started impressively with Bishop Lennart Koskinen leading a procession in full uniform up the aisle to the front of the congregation. Here, he congratulated in a warm and personal way Lovisa Möller with her assignment before the regional head of Church of Sweden Krister Tholin read the formal announcement issued.
Kneeling before him, both Lovisa Möller and her colleague Per Edler, who took up his duties on Phuket about half a year ago, then received the blessing of the Bishop for their duties in the Thailand.
The format of the evening was that of a mass service, enhanced with the presence of the Bishop and the Regional Head and the Choir of the Church. The psalms were clearly selected with special attention to the occasion, but except for “Härlig är jorden” most of the audience didn’t seem to known them very well. Instead they clearly seemed to enjoy listening to the Church choir.
In her first sermon to the congregation, Lovisa Möller had a few comments about her new assignment without loosing sight of the actual theme of this particular Sunday, which was Palm Sunday and thus was related to the procession into Jerusalem of Jesus and his disciples.
Finally, there was Holy Communion which in light of the many participants took place for some of the participants kneeling by the alter while others filed by the Bishop.
After the formal art of the evening was over, it was time for the informal welcome of Lovisa Möller, which took place in the meeting hall next to the Church. Here, the organizing committee had prepared coffee, soft drinks and light refreshments. Circulating around, many got a personal impression of the new priest and many also took the chance to personally welcome her to Bangkok and offer their assistance to her in whatever way they could to help her settle in quickly and take up her important place in the Scandinavian community.
