Noisy Churches

Here in Kenya churches compete with each other to see who can be the loudest. Often they have "lunch hour" meetings during lunch time (hence the clever name lunch hours), and crank the sound system as loud as possible. Unfortunately there seems to be a belief that the worse you sing or play the keyboard the more holy you must be.

Don't even think of trying to have a conversation during lunch in town, and the estates are not spared either. Any place you find an open field or empty plot you can bet that a church will set up an outdoor meeting. Supposedly these meetings are to evangelize the lost, but really they are advertisements for the church conducting the meeting or worse fund raising events.

When you hear one you know that next week another church will come to show how much louder they can be, and how terrible they can play or sing.

I read in one of the local papers were Eldoret was banning this type of behavior in it's town center, please please Nakuru due the same. Only do not limit it to the town center but rescue us people living in the estates as well.

Funny thing is that they crank the volume up so loud that it distorts the sound, thus no one can understand what the supposed preacher is saying. Perhaps that is God's way of saving us from their agendas.

Comments

[mr bob]

I wonder where they got this model from? So I guess a mime ministry wouldn't be effective there :)

[Jan]

I had to laugh at this one... churches are the same in Nicaragua. They seem to think the LOUDER you sing the better you are! We were still living there when they passed a noise ordinance in the country and that deeply affected the evangelical churches. All the pastors were up in arms about it and trying to get us to join the bandwagon... we just couldn't! We lived with a church on the back side of our house and had to listen to prayer meetings and services sometimes until one in the morning! I hope your government will be able to do the same thing, as they sure provided some needed relief for our ears!