Churches. The very word can either fill you with a warm glow or a shudder of frustration. I encountered both in India. India is a country filled with many contradictions with extremities in wealth, language, educations, religions etc. This makes for a diverse and beautiful country. One church I visited was a small Tamil Church. The other was a large modern Church.
Tamil is a local dialect for Bangalore's region of India. The church was a small white building with corrugated metal roof. The people were excited to see us and kept playing down their "small church". While the majority of the songs & sermon were in Tamil it followed a Church of England order of service and they kept us up to date with what was going on. The time afterwards was precious, sharing cake, stories and even teaching me to play one of their drums.
The start of the large church had great visuals, videos advertising a youth camp and the values of the church. This was followed by a large band worship experience with a pentecostal summary where the minister sings and ministers alongside the band. The sermon was about corporate worship and how best to receive and participate in it with verses used as evidence throughout the whole Bible. From beginning to end not one person approached us, but we were directed to follow a sign for a newcomers meeting, we didn't.
The two experiences of church were so different and helped me understand what I think makes a great church and community. Small is beautiful & hospitable.
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