Religion in Rwanda

Religion in Rwanda, as in many African countries, is a different phenomenon than it is in the U.S.

For one thing, religion is nearly universal in Africa – I would venture to say over 95% of Africans are religious. For another, people are dedicated – the vast majority of those regularly pray and attend services (and these services commonly last between three and five hours). Because religious practice is not concentrated among older people as it is in most Western countries (added to the fact that both life expectancy and the average age in many African countries is very low), many African churches overflow with young people. Further, religious belief is almost assumed in most African countries – common questions are not “Are you religious?” or “What are your religious beliefs?” but rather, “Are you Muslim or Christian?” and “Are you Catholic or Protestant?” There is little room in most African societies for atheism, agnosticism, questioning of religion, or really even thinking critically about it.

Rwanda is no exception, and effectively the entire population participates in some form of organized religion. Like most in the region, Rwanda is a predominantly Christian country (as opposed to the predominantly Muslim countries of North and West Africa), and the religious breakdown here is as follows: 56% Catholic, 26% Protestant, 11% Adventist, 5% Muslim, 2% other. A recent Pew Forum report on religion in Africa stated that 60 percent of Rwandans view religious tension as a problem here. I’m not sure what they mean by religious tension or if their statistic is accurate, but I haven’t seen any obvious signs of tension. I have heard from other Volunteers that Muslims in some parts of Rwanda are really discriminated against, especially Muslim students in schools, but I’ve yet to see this firsthand.

I’ve been attending the Presbyterian Church in Nyagatare, and services here differ significantly from those at First Presbyterian Church in my hometown of Great Falls, Montana. Our services normally last over 2.5 hours (but pass surprisingly quickly!), and over half that time is taken up by worship. Worship here is a lot like it was at the Baptist Church I attended in Senegal, and not at all like anything I’ve ever seen in the U.S. Almost all of the music is very upbeat, and this church has an electric keyboard (and they make full use of all the various sounds it can make!). Further, in addition to clapping, most of the music is accompanied by dancing, which ranges from simple swaying to jumping up and down to marching through the aisles. A fried who was sitting by me one week explained that people dance at church here because it “expresses joy,” and everyone is shocked when I say there is no dancing at church in America.

Most church services in Rwanda, including those at the Presbyterian Church here in Nyagatare, take place entirely in Kinyarwanda. There’s one church in my town with English services, so I’m thinking about alternating, since that would be a little more personally meaningful. I’d also be interested to see who in Nyagatare attends English services, since I’ve only met one person who doesn’t speak much Kinyarwanda (he’s from Kenya).