Religions
The religion of Bellona Island (and presumably Rennell Island) was replaced by Christianity in 1938. The Copenhagen University funded research to examine the rituals of Bellona Island which indicated that many men recalled the story that the island began as a Nerita shell and rose up from the ocean (p24).
In present time the people of Rennell are geographically divided between the lower lake end and the higher end by two Christian denominations. Around the Eastern end, Te Nggano, the people follow the South Seas Evangelical Church, with the Seventh-day Adventist Church occupying the western end. The Seventh-day Adventists worship on Saturday, and South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC) worship on Sunday. Church Leaders play a small part in most communities, and the traditional Chief/Elder system is becoming defunct.
Portions of the population do not actively attend church, especially young people, though most “community leaders”, are nominated as teachers, elders, chiefs or pastors.
- Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) – major
- South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC) – major
- Anglican Church – minor
- Life Changing Mission (LCM) – minor
Read more about this topic: Rennell Island
Famous quotes containing the word religions:
“Politics at all times lead to bloody wars, and not only politics, but also religions as well as social and economic systems of all times are spattered with blood. Invariably the big ones devoured the little ones, and the little ones the tiny ones.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“The ancients adorned their sarcophagi with the emblems of life and procreation, and even with obscene symbols; in the religions of antiquity the sacred and the obscene often lay very close together. These men knew how to pay homage to death. For death is worthy of homage as the cradle of life, as the womb of palingenesis.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)