“Youl feel a sense of belonging”

“When I look around in the church, I see people who look like me – internationals who are probably also looking for a certain community here in Copenhagen. People from Asia, from Latin America, from other parts of Europe. To see those people attending with you, you feel a sense of belonging.”

So says John about the Sunday Jazz Services, held at Eliaskirken by Folkekirken for Internationals. The services offer internationals in Copenhagen the chance to meet, reflect spiritually and sing together, accompanied by leading Danish jazz musicians.

John is originally from The Philippines, where he was raised in a Catholic Christian family, and has also lived in Saudi Arabia. In 2014, he moved to Copenhagen, where he now works as an art director and designer for a private company. He began attending the Sunday Jazz Services around early 2024.

“I felt that I could really be a part of this community, not only as an international living in Copenhagen, but also as a son of God and as somebody who wants to reconnect with the church and with my faith and feel safe and loved and accepted for who I am,” he says.

John now regularly participates in the services, sometimes along with his husband.

“There has always been a certain stigma between being gay and attending the church, but here that wall is totally gone,” he explains.

John particularly emphasises the music aspect of the services.

“I love that the music is very contemporary. It’s a mix of regular church songs with a twist and songs that I know, like Moon River or Bridge Over Troubled Water or Amazing Grace,” he says.

“The music speaks to you and connects to your soul and in your heart. It is used to evoke an emotion and to encourage people to sing along. In singing, you can find a strong sense of togetherness and belonging, and that I have found here in Eliaskirken.”