Worshipping in Delhi

I try to attend church on Sundays wherever I am and am always amazed at the many diverse ways that people worship. When in Delhi I attended a couple of churches with one thing in common - all the services went for three hours. In each case the sermon was about an hour and a half long. Church attendance in India is not for the faint-hearted or uncommitted!

Firstly, I attended an Assemblies of God church, mainly because my landlord went there and every Sunday he offered to take his tenants to his church. It was an interesting experience. I would say that the congregation of about 600 people was 60% Indian, 30% African and 5% each people of European and East Asian descent. I was startled to see so many Africans in an Indian congregation. I was told that most of them came from their respective embassies, which were nearby. I don't know whether it was the presence of the Africans or whether other AOG churches in India are like this, but it was an unusual service (for me). There was over an hour of singing at the beginning, throughout which the congregation stood. With so many people packed into a hall, there wasn't much wriggle room to adjust our feet or even move very much. My feet were tired and I was relieved when the sermon started and we were all allowed to sit down. One sermon was given by a visiting Nigerian preacher who spent the entire time shouting at people and demanding that they shout back if they loved the Lord. He then insisted that all men with studs in their ears come forward, hand him their jewellery and seek repentance. It was a little bizarre. On that occasion, after two full hours of being shouted at (coming after the hour of singing), my landlord suggested that we go home, and we did. I don’t know if anyone was saved that day, but I was no closer to salvation! :-)

On other occasions, the sermon was a more 'reasonable' hour and a half, and was followed by speaking in tongues. For those who have never attended a Pentecostal church, this involves everyone in the congregation shouting, babbling and wailing in non-languages. The devout will say that they are speaking in the language of the angels. The more cynical might suggest that they are just babbling because the preacher has said that if they don't do it, they haven't been possessed of the Holy Spirit. Hearing 600 people babbling and wailing whilst rocking their bodies and shaking violently is quite an experience. All I can say is that the Christian Church is very diverse and people are entitled to worship however they like. But speaking in tongues is not for me.

Another church that I attended was called New Generations, and the congregation was much smaller, perhaps 50 or 60 people. Most of the congregation were from Nagaland in the far northeast of India, plus there were about 20 boys who were HIV positive and lived in a shelter run by members of the church. I enjoyed the worship here – it seemed very lively and the people were sincere. I met an interesting English woman called Sarah who worked amongst prostitutes in a red light district of Delhi – mainly providing support, encouragement, cups of chai and help in dealing with the myriad problems of being an Indian woman without a real home, engaged in an illegal occupation. Sarah was very inspiring.

The sermon at New Generations was conducted in English and translated into Hindi after every few sentences. I found this an excellent way to improve my Hindi. Now my Hindi vocabulary has expanded to include words like salvation, eternal life and unity in spirit – I’m just not sure how useful they will be when I’m arguing with auto-rickshaw drivers! :-)