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:
“Deism is good sense not yet instructed by revelation, and other religions are good sense perverted by superstition. All sects differ, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“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)
“This Administration has declared unconditional war on poverty and I have come here this morning to ask all of you to enlist as volunteers. Members of all parties are welcome to our tent. Members of all races ought to be there. Members of all religions should come and help us now to strike the hammer of truth against the anvil of public opinion again and again until the ears of this Nation are open, until the hearts of this Nation are touched, and until the conscience of America is awakened.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)