The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church and the Church of the Good Shepherd joined together this evening to share in food and fellowship. The Ethiopian women prepared all the delicious vegetarian food, keeping with the Lenten meat fasting tradition.  No utensils were used; instead, we used "Injera", a spongy, yeast-risen flatbread that is traditionally made out of teff flour.

After dinner, we were delighted to take part in the coffee ceremony. The coffee is brewed by first roasting the green coffee beans over hot coals  in a brazier. Once the beans are  roasted each participant  is given an opportunity to sample the aromatic smoke by  wafting it towards them. This is followed by the grinding of the beans,  traditionally in a wooden mortar and pestle. The coffee grounds are  then put  into a special vessel and boiled. The boiling pot (jebena) is usually made of pottery and has a spherical base, a neck  and pouring spout and a handle where the neck  connects with the base. The host pours the coffee for all participants by moving the tilted boiling pot over a tray with small, handleless cups without stop until each cup is full.  We all enjoyed the very strong coffee, although it may have kept some of us up past our bedtime!

On Palm Sunday 2011, the parishes of the Church of the Good Shepherd and Woodcliffe United worshipped together.  We began our service at the Good Shepherd, then strapped on our winter boots and began the procession to Woodcliffe United. There, we continued our Palm Sunday worship and joined in fellowship after the service.