In leafy Tervuren (Flemish Brabant), nobody bats an eyelid when the Whitsun mass is held among the bumper cars at the fair. It was the idea of local priest Jan Herinckx, who immediately saw a good reason for it. "The fairground and the church have a lot more in common than you think," he says. And so, the hundred-odd faithful and altar boys sat on and next to the bumper cars on Whit Monday.
Religion & Philosophy
Tervuren Whitsun mass between the bumper cars at the fair
Colin Clapson
Published:
It remains a funny sight. A hundred-odd churchgoers for once taking a seat on the bumper cars or one of the many chairs on the circuit. Jan Herinckx has moved the Whitsun mass from the church to the fairground. And that in itself is not so strange, he explains.
"The two really do have a connection. After all, the Dutch word ‘kermis’ (fair) comes from the words church-mass. The parish feast used to be celebrated around the church after a celebration of mass. There used to be stalls, rides and parties. Today’s bumper cars are still a result of that."
And so the mass on Whit Monday moves from Tervuren church to the fair in the market square. This requires quite a bit of practical organisation, the priest explains.
"We placed 100 chairs on the attraction. The cars are nicely arranged in a circle around an altar table that we have prepared. The music system has been moved. There is an electronic piano. The members of Cecilia Choir are coming along. We are all set."
The parish priest received a lot of help from his altar boys, who are now getting a reward. "The owners of the bumper cars were kind enough to give tokens to our altar boys. After all, they worked very hard."