As mentioned in my last letter, I felt somewhat discouraged by my first experience in a Christian church in Taipei. However, to my great relief I later found out that the majority of Christian churches in Taipei do not force their members to speak in tongues. After asking around about churches for a few more weeks, I found one called the Home of Christ, which is one of the biggest churches in Taipei with several hundred people attending each service.
Since the church is so large, most people join small discussion groups in order to talk about the sermon and share thoughts about their faith. These small groups are organized by age, so I joined a group of college students and young professionals. I had a difficult time understanding everything at first because all of the discussions were in Chinese. However, once I began to understand more I was moved by many of the group members' reflections about their lives and their faith. I realized that observing students and professionals engage in these discussions was quite a remarkable opportunity, as most young people in Taiwan do not participate in Christian activities. After getting to know the individual members of the group, I assumed that most had been dedicated Christians for many years.
For this reason, I was surprised when I received an invitation to go to the baptism of one of my church friends. She had grown up as a Christian, but at 22 years old had never been baptized. I was shocked that she had waited so long, because the majority of baptisms I had seen in the United States had been for babies or small children. She later mentioned that seven other people from our group, most of them longtime Christians, would be baptized with her.
On the night of the baptism, hundreds of people carrying cameras and bouquets of flowers filed into the church. I soon realized that this was not a baptism for just seven people, but for 65! The dozens of people about to be baptized were lined up at the front of the church wearing white robes. What surprised me the most was that none of these people were younger than 18. In fact, many of those about to be baptized were quite elderly. Before the baptism began, the pastor instructed the hundreds of audience members to sing a song after every person was baptized. When it came to each persons turn, his or her name flashed in red on a screen above the stage and the audience cheered, sang, and prayed. I had never been to such a lively baptism in my life. The loud cheering, bouquets of flowers, and flashing cameras made me feel as if I were at a graduation.
I believe that the Taiwanese Christians from my church celebrate baptism in this way because to them it represents an especially big change in a person's life and identity. Of course baptism in the United States is also meaningful, but unlike Christianity in the United States, Christianity in Taiwan is not embedded in the country's history and contemporary culture. Currently, only 4.5 percent of the Taiwanese population consider themselves Christian, so baptisms are quite rare.
I think the baptism I witnessed was also unique because of the ages of the participants. Unlike parents in the United States, parents in Taiwan do not usually take their children to be baptized, since most parents are not Christians. For this reason, many Christians in Taiwan find Christianity on their own as adults. I believe that is why the churches place a great deal of importance on wholly accepting the faith before being baptized. There is absolutely no societal pressure to become a Christian in Taiwan; on the contrary, there is probably more societal pressure to not become a Christian. When someone decides to be baptized, it is therefore not only the beginning of a new Christian life, but also a break from the traditional Buddhist and Taoist beliefs held by over 90 percent of the population. Thus, when a group of Taiwanese people decide to become Christians, it is a special occasion that is welcomed with gifts, songs, and loud cheering. I believe that the way Taiwanese Christians in my church celebrate baptism perfectly fits the occasion because it honors and rejoices the spiritual graduation of an individual into a new identity and a new way of life.
For this reason, I was surprised when I received an invitation to go to the baptism of one of my church friends. She had grown up as a Christian, but at 22 years old had never been baptized. I was shocked that she had waited so long, because the majority of baptisms I had seen in the United States had been for babies or small children. She later mentioned that seven other people from our group, most of them longtime Christians, would be baptized with her.
On the night of the baptism, hundreds of people carrying cameras and bouquets of flowers filed into the church. I soon realized that this was not a baptism for just seven people, but for 65! The dozens of people about to be baptized were lined up at the front of the church wearing white robes. What surprised me the most was that none of these people were younger than 18. In fact, many of those about to be baptized were quite elderly. Before the baptism began, the pastor instructed the hundreds of audience members to sing a song after every person was baptized. When it came to each persons turn, his or her name flashed in red on a screen above the stage and the audience cheered, sang, and prayed. I had never been to such a lively baptism in my life. The loud cheering, bouquets of flowers, and flashing cameras made me feel as if I were at a graduation.
I believe that the Taiwanese Christians from my church celebrate baptism in this way because to them it represents an especially big change in a person's life and identity. Of course baptism in the United States is also meaningful, but unlike Christianity in the United States, Christianity in Taiwan is not embedded in the country's history and contemporary culture. Currently, only 4.5 percent of the Taiwanese population consider themselves Christian, so baptisms are quite rare.
I think the baptism I witnessed was also unique because of the ages of the participants. Unlike parents in the United States, parents in Taiwan do not usually take their children to be baptized, since most parents are not Christians. For this reason, many Christians in Taiwan find Christianity on their own as adults. I believe that is why the churches place a great deal of importance on wholly accepting the faith before being baptized. There is absolutely no societal pressure to become a Christian in Taiwan; on the contrary, there is probably more societal pressure to not become a Christian. When someone decides to be baptized, it is therefore not only the beginning of a new Christian life, but also a break from the traditional Buddhist and Taoist beliefs held by over 90 percent of the population. Thus, when a group of Taiwanese people decide to become Christians, it is a special occasion that is welcomed with gifts, songs, and loud cheering. I believe that the way Taiwanese Christians in my church celebrate baptism perfectly fits the occasion because it honors and rejoices the spiritual graduation of an individual into a new identity and a new way of life.
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