KAIMOSI, Kenya (AP) — A choir blasts a local hymn complete with musical instruments as congregants, mostly women clad in white dresses, dance and clap along.
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congregants → blast → dresses
The atmosphere feels similar to Pentecostal churches, with the hymns and spiritual declarations very familiar to those sung in other churches.
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hymns → feel → churches
But the Friends Church in Cheptulu bears no sign of the cross, paintings or sculptures of Jesus Christ, which is the norm in most Christian churches.
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which → bear → churches
Quakerism originated in 17th-century England when George Fox, who objected to the Anglican emphasis on ceremony, founded the group.
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who → originate → group
In the 1640s, he said he heard a voice that led him to develop a personal relationship with Christ, described as the Inner Light.
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that → say → Light
About half live in Africa with most in Kenya, where Americans introduced the religion.
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Americans → live → religion
Quakers in the U.S. believe in the Inner Light and eschew loud worship and preaching in favor of silently awaiting individual messages from God.
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Quakers → believe → God
In Kenya, 90-year-old Thomas Amalemba, who was born to a Quaker father and a Salvation Army mother, remembers the days when music was slower and different from the current music that has been modernized by the introduction of contemporary instruments.
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that → bear → instruments
“The old people when we go to the church service, we feel uncomfortable,” Amalemba said.
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Amalemba → go → service
In Amalemba’s Cheptulu Church, senior pastor Kennedy Shiverenje said the music needed to be relevant and appropriate to the local context.
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music → say → context
“We needed to capture the youth and re-energize the elderly so that our service is vibrant,” Shiverenje said.
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Shiverenje → need → elderly
Adding more tempo to attract young followers
In most Quaker houses of worship, there is no clergy, pulpit or altar.
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Adding → add → worship
No one sings or chants, burns incense or lights candles.
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one → sing → candles
They do not speak until a message from God moves through them.
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message → speak → them
In Kenya, the Quakers worship loudly.
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Quakers → worship → Kenya
When American missionaries from the Friends United Meeting in Indiana arrived in the hilly western Kenya town of Kaimosi in 1902, they introduced a version of Quakerism that featured slow hymns and evangelism.
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that → arrive → hymns
They invested in schools and hospitals that helped convert many locals.
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that → invest → locals
Pastor Shiverenje’s grandfather was the first pastor of the Cheptulu church, which stands on a hill near their family’s home.
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which → stand → home
He believes silent worship, or the unprogrammed version of Quakerism, may not have won his grandfather, who was among the first converts.
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who → believe → converts
“If you just brought an unprogrammed service where people sit silently, I’m not sure people would concentrate,” he said.
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he → bring → service
Over the years, Kenyan Quakers have grown in numbers after adding more tempo to the music and incorporating modern musical instruments to attract young people, who previously found them boring.
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them → grow → people
“We used to joke about how our grandmothers would sing the songs so slowly, taking forever to finish a single song until they eventually dozed off.
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they → use → song
They wouldn’t even clap their hands, let alone play African drums.
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They → clap → drums
The songs were the slowest I had ever heard in my life,” Rose Oside remembered.
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Oside → hear → life
At a recent Sunday service in Cheptulu Church, which has been around for 100 years, it was mostly young people who led praise and worship sessions.
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who → lead → sessions
Even when the older women led a hymn before a baby dedication program, they were still guided in their tempo by the keyboard played by a young Quaker man.
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they → lead → man
She remembers when young people avoided going to church.
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people → remember → church
“The young people used to see us singing slow motion while other churches had faster music,” she said.
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she → use → music
“So they used to go to other churches and so we bought a keyboard that has brought all these young people to church.”
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that → use → church
The role of pastoral ministers has modern importance
Evangelism isn’t practiced by Quakers who follow silent worship.
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who → have → worship
They believe in growth through self-convinced followers.
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They → believe → followers
The Friends Theological College in Kaimosi now boasts of more than 400 students on campus and online.
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College → boast → campus
College Principal Robert Wafula said the training ensures the correct message is taught to congregations and has helped in other countries such as Rwanda, where the government closed 70 Quaker churches in a recent crackdown led by untrained pastors.
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government → say → pastors
Wafula said the role of pastoral ministers is especially important in the modern world, where political frictions often threaten peace in the community.
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frictions → say → community
He noted that Quaker doctrine, which is founded on peace, has been useful during ethnic tensions and postelection violence in Kenya, as well as in regional conflicts.
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which → note → conflicts
“Quakerism has spread peace across East Africa, for example in Rwanda and even in the Congo, where Quakers are participating in peace-building through the major groups,” Wafula said.
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Wafula → spread → groups
“We have a pastor from this college working in the peace center in Rwanda.”
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We → have → Rwanda
The college now houses a Quaker Archive program.
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college → house → program
Among the archives is the old Bible, written in the local Maragoli language, used by early Quakers and the first converts.
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Bible → write → Quakers
With the missionaries gone, the church has made changes to ensure it keeps spreading, but some of the updates have rattled the older generation.
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some → go → generation
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
