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RITES OF PASSAGE

The photographs show some of the special family events that take place in church.

Baptism:

The child in the photograph on the left has just been baptised during the morning Holy Communion service at Vandranthantal.   Most Indian Christians are baptised as young children.  Usually baptisms take place as part of an ordinary Sunday service, so that the child can be welcomed into the family of the Church, but it is not unusual for Christians in the villages to wait for a special occasion, such as a visit from the Bishop, to have their child baptised.  At these diocesan services sometimes about twenty children will be brought forward for baptism (sometimes these children will have been baptised already - but the parents like the idea of the child being baptised in the presence of the bishop, and bring them forward again!) .

The second photograph shows a proud baptismal party at Zion Hill Church.

Some Christian parents follow the Indian (Hindu) custom of having their child's hair shaved of at the age of one year old - they then give money of an equivalent weight to the hair as an offering to charity.

Confirmation:

Confirmation services take place regularly throughout the year when mainly young people come to renew the promises their parents made for them at baptism.  Sometimes people who have become Christians are baptised and then confirmed in the same service.  Confirmation is always carried out by a bishop, and the photographs show Bishop William and confirmation candidates at a service in the north of the Diocese.  Each candidate is prayed for by name as the bishop blesses them.  This confirmation took place during a visit by a group from Cambridgeshire, and you may also spot Bishop John of Huntingdon assisting Bishop William.

 

Weddings:

Indian weddings are usually very large affairs with many guests attending.  The couple are betrothed (engaged) at a special service only a couple of months before the wedding.

 As is the custom in all religions in India, it is the parents of the bride and groom to be who choose their son’s or daughter’s partner and the couple might not have met very often before the betrothal.  Nobody is forced to marry someone if they do not wish it, and sometimes the young people themselves will suggest who their parents should approach.  In the towns it is normal for Christians to marry Christians, but sometimes Hindus will convert to Christianity to marry a Christian.  In the villages people marry at a much younger age (14-16), and there are often more Christian girls than there are Christian boys, and parents will marry their Christian daughter to a Hindu.  The new wife may find it very difficult to keep up her Christian faith when she moves into her husband’s Hindu home.

An Indian wedding is a very expensive affair and poor families may end up deep in debt after paying for a wedding. 

It is still not common for someone to remarry after their husband or wife dies.

Funerals:

In India Hindus are normally cremated, but Christians are usually buried, although they may be cremated if they live in a crowded city such as Chennai where burial space is not available.

It is an Indian custom to hang garlands on the portraits of dead family members which are on show in their homes.

Christians will often ask for a special church service to be held on the anniversary of the death of a much loved family member.  This service may include the opportunity to make a donation to charity, or a meal for the congregation.

Christian graves and a coffin cart