“Around the World in 80 Faiths” is the title of a new TV series. Peter Owen Jones, an Anglican priest, has had the wonderful opportunity to visit some remote people with traditional spirit worship, some in cities with modern versions of ancient cults, and some mixing elements of more than one faith or culture.
The announcements caught my attention because the first episode was to include animist faiths of people in the islands of Australasia – where people believe that inanimate objects or natural phenomena have souls. That was the kind of situation in which Gwen and I worked for 16 years in Papua New Guinea.
Although the programme didn’t take him to Papua New Guinea, Peter saw a fascinating range, from the spirit worship in the mountains of Sulawesi, through an Australian aboriginal group that he felt was losing its dreamtime culture, to kastom (custom) and a new cult seeking unity in Vanuatu. In the metropolis of Sydney he met Mandaeans who have developed the faith and practices of John the Baptist, and urban witches whom he contrasted with witches in past centuries condemned by the Church of England.
Five or six minutes per faith gave colourful pictures of exotic ceremonies, raised tantalising questions about what is going on, and allowed us to hear his first impressions of how different things are. This can be a useful eye-opener for the viewers, as well as for Peter, and I am eager to see what else he discovers in other regions of the world.
However I hope he may have the opportunity in future series to explore in more depth the encounters that he has already started to glimpse, when people of traditional animist worship come to Christian faith and assess for themselves what is of deep value. My observation in Papua New Guinea is that thoughtful, spiritually aware people can carefully assess their own traditional practices and the innovations brought by outsiders, as they develop their own faith and relationship with God in the midst of rapidly changing societies.
I dare say that a lot of that is going on in Ickenham too.
And if you want to see the result of Christian women of Papua New Guinea sharing their faith with others around the world, see the announcement later on page four about this year’s Women’s World Day of Prayer. On Friday 6th March the service they prepared will be used in about 45,000 places around the world, including Ickenham.
Bernie
On Sunday 11th January, as I drove to church just after 7am, I was treated to a wonderful sight. It was the morning sunrise, or rather that time just before the sun rose over the horizon. It lasted only a few minutes. I saw the brilliant sky as I left my house in Southall and by the time I reached the A40 the colours were magnificent and at their best. The sky was a deep crimson red, streaked with violets and blues and greens. I felt privileged to see such beauty and wondered who else might be looking at the same sky in awe and amazement. Six minutes later, as I arrived at church, although there was a bright orange glow in the sky and it was still beautiful, the best of the spectacle had gone.