Suggested Form of Worship for the Contemporary Zeliangrong Churches
- Part 2 -

Gaichangsui Gangmei *

A Choir performing at Tamu - Moreh, Indo-Burma border - Pix :: Lunminthang Haokip

1.4. Change of Trend with the constant change of time

Today, situation and condition of the Zeliangrong people is not the same with that of the days when Christianity was first introduced into their land. The Christianity presented by the outsiders should be changed in its forms and practices with the change of time and context. As the context changes the people need to be receptive to the change.

The ways of worship in the Zeliangrong Churches need to change according to the life situation and trend of the society holding on the Biblical truth. With the change of time the experiences and the approaches, and the activities involved changed. Therefore, worship life and pattern need to meet the life changing situation of the worshippers.

1.5. Attitudinal Conflict

Similarly in "the realm of value system, before India's independence the respective integrated social group in the region was shattered by the "we" and "they" feeling between the "indigenous" and the "converted" groups of the same social group. While apprehensive of the worldly life "convert" was so much concerned with his/her future life that he/she could not withstand the traditional values enjoyed by his opposite member of the same community.

The "convert" envied the positive mind of the other on values like righteousness and truth. While he/she was busy with the negative idea of sin and death more than the value of salvation and everlasting life" (Barrister Pakem, "Interaction Between Christianity and the Peoples of the North East…). The "indigenous" too had a negative attitude towards the "converts". The converts are considered less concern for respect, loss of moral discipline and lack of observance. And they are looked upon to have lost their traditions and cultures values.

Christianity and its theology derived from and centered in the people's historical experience and cultural reality is a pressing task confronting Indigenous in North East India particularly the Zeliang-rongs. Eventually, the contemporary Christian Chur-ches have to be reframed by producing a relevant form of worship.

2. Suggested relevant form of Worship

The Oxford Reference Dictionary gives the meaning of 'relevant' as—"closely connected or appropriate to the current matter". Precisely the definition of relevant form of worship could be "indigenous" and "contextual" form of worship.

Amalarporadass puts, "Indigenization should not be merely turning back to the traditional cultures and religions or simply recognizing our own heritage, but should be seen as being present today and moving to the future, while being always rooted in the past" (D.S. Amalarporadass, Indian Christian Spirituality (Bangalore; National Biblical Cateche-tical and Liturgical Centre, 1982), p. 97.).

Today contextualisation is defined as, "the way of adjusting the message to cultural context and doing theology" (David J. Hjosselgrane and Edward Romen, Contextualisation : Meaning, method and models (Michigan : Baker Book House, 1992), p. 28.). True contextualisation happens when a community lives faithfully by the word of God and the word of God identifies with the real situation of the people.

The Christian faith that the Zeliangrongs hold today is not indigenised. It had its origin in the western world and simply adopted without any change. But here the main concern is to make it native, which means to structure according to the contemporary reality and integrate in the culture and today's life of the people. Therefore, the duty of the Church is to reconsider the matter and indigenised those elements that would make the people authentically and fully Christians.

The need is visible to reintegrate certain values which had been almost destroyed by the missionaries and their new converts in the realm of traditional music, dance, and festivals, and even in the elements of worship there is a need to incorporate that has meanings and significance. The traditional rites and rituals and social customs like birth, marriage, death, succession and inheritance, and the practices of the church like baptism, Eucharist and funeral ceremonies can be modified and reintegrate to the contemporary.

However, the traditional and contemporary Christian worship have common practices either in its approach or in its significance. In other words, both have similarities in its approach and significance or in one of it, because of which they do practice with meanings that explained and understood. To mention some of the similarities are: the belief in the Supreme Being, space and time of worship, and the elements of worship. In both the cases, the worship is attributed to the Supreme Being that is God.

Both traditional and contemporary observed times and space in the process of worship. It is true when 'Sabbath' is observed in the contemporary churches, and 'Numei' (a day of rest) is also observed in the traditional worship. The mobile Tabernacle that was carried around in the exodus event of the Old Testament could be a standard agreement that worship is allowed everywhere, anytime, which is similar to the traditional worship of Zeliangrong. Therefore, since the observance is present in both, the worshippers act with knowing the definite meanings and significance of it.

Except sacrifice, the contemporary Christian worship observed all the elements content in the traditional worship. But unfortunately, some of the elements have different ways and significance of celebrating. Therefore, the elements observed need to be indigenized, so that it will explain the meaning and significance to the one who partakes/celebrates it.

Conclusion Remarks

Worship is an expression the desire present in the heart to seek for and find God and to have communion and relationship in fellowship with Him. Worship is God's initiation to which the believers responded in expression the conviction about who God is and how he is related to the world. Worship is the central of the church; life and mission, and witness and service. Worship consists of words and actions, the outward expression of homage and adoration in the assembly of the presence of God.

With the growth of the churches in numbers and its spirituality, and the constant changing of the situation and context, the forms and ways of worship too changed. The Zeliangrong churches since its inceptions and later growth, living with the outside world moves away consciously or unconsciously from their traditional worship; the identical worship of their own which is native.

The paces of church along with the popular tradition which the church cannot do away has led the Zeliangrong churches to somehow adopt the contemporary trend and followed with no much self realization with questions such as: does it speaks the meanings to the people, of the people, and for the people? Or in a simple words, Does the contemporary trend adopted by the Zeliangrong churches contextual?

In the study of the interaction between Zeliangrong traditional worship and the worship of the contemporary Zeliangrong churches, there is a great demarcation; the elements involve, the meanings and significance, and greatly in the form and ways they performed. The Contemporary churches have found to have more inclination towards the ways and form brought and influenced from the outside or popular tradition of the present world rather than the tribal traditional.

Rather they are threatened of losing their own identity. Whereas, the traditional form of worship is totally considered crude and outdated looking from the view of contemporary availability of varieties. How far it can be true is not explained, but to some certain extends the traditional things is also confronted with the changes of time and context. Therefore, the contemporary Zeliangrong churches are challenged to be indigenized; that would be contextual, meaningful to the people of the people and for the people having its basis on the Biblical truth.

The writer suggests that an integration of an indigenous worship with an element of contemporary Christian worship would be relevant, enriching and fulfilling for the contemporary Zeliangrong Churches.

In a nutshell the writer felt that the traditional worship nor the contemporary Christian worship alone is relevant, nevertheless, if the contemporary Zeliangrong churches desire to maintain its unique identity, it need to incorporate certain trails of contemporary Christian worship and re-discover the beauty of their indigenous worship, so that the present day worship is meaningful.

Concluded ..