Monday, May 14, 2012

Scratch notes on Taiping hymnography

Taiping pastors are responsible for gathering up their flock for worship services. They're also responsible for escorting them to the designated places of worship (IRL, the Taipings never built dedicated churches; I'm not sure how their sacred architecture plays out in Andalusada.) In some cases, they may or may not also be responsible for escorting their flock from the churches too. (All those conditionals are necessary because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not noted for its organization.)

Which highlights one of the things that makes the Taiping Christian religious experience different from all others: it's actually more collective than any other Christian mode of worship. The Taiping faithful are formed into groups before they actually assemble into a single congregation, and because the pastor's responsible for handling them as such, they can also leave as groups, rather than going in peace as individuals.

It also doesn't synchronize exactly with the service.

And because of Taiping distinctivies, both IRL and in Andalusada, I have every reason to guess that Taiping piety involves a lot of very loud processional hymns (and a somewhat smaller number of recessionals.)

Attempts to establish a common cycle of processional and recessional hymns, for the sake of standardization, have all met with failure. As is ever the case with Taiping Christianity, chaos reigns.

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