This past Sunday, I witnessed a police swoop around the Sonatube area in Kigali that targeted allegedly ‘noisy churches,’ the operation took away a handful of pastors in the process disrupting worship sessions and leaving many a worshiper nonplussed.

Police, do you love God? I hear an affirmative. Then why arrest pastors on a Sunday, the only official day when they are allowed to do their work?

Of course I know that there’s no timetable to arrest law offenders for, in principle, an arrest can be carried out at anytime.

However, taking pastors away in the middle of a worship session because they are reportedly being ‘noisy’ is a cake not worth the Police’s candle. At the time of the swoop, I was having my weekly haircut when all of a sudden the young barber cutting my hair abandoned me to join colleagues who had rushed out to witness an unusual scene on the street.

Left alone, I also trudged off the barber cart and hobbled off to the balcony, apron in the neck to join the other onlookers. This was near the Equity Bank branch, at the Sonatube roundabout.

Down on the street, the Police, with stiff upper lips were putting on a James Bond movie like scene, a newly formed small makeshift worship centre behind the corridors was the target and after a few minutes, they emerged with a subdued pastor who was led away on a police cruiser.

That day, several churches were raided and several pastors taken away and this was the talk in the neighborhood throughout the day.

Back home, our house help who had just returned from church had additional details gathered from the village scuttlebutt.

Exaggerated or not, she claimed that at one church, the pastor was casting out demons of theft, hatred and corruption when the police raided, they didn’t wait for the ‘spiritual operation’ to wind down.’

Back to the plot, noisy churches can indeed disrupt the serenity of neighbourhoods and I support the authorities when they clamp down on those that especially do so during weekdays, on hours when everyone is expected to be engaged in gainful employment.

Worship is not an economic activity, that’s why orthodox churches open on Sunday. But this doesn’t disqualify the fact that many, these days, are opening churches to make money.

But, Sunday, a day when almost every Christian worth their name goes to church to join others in praise, it’s hard to justify a police raid on noisy worship.

For instance, who on a Sunday could possibly have reported to the police that a church in the neighborhood was disturbing their peace?

Technically, if churches are that noisy, the first people to complain should be the members of the congregation themselves. On a Sunday morning, it’s probably those nursing hangovers after long boozy nights who can complain for disrupting their belated naps.

Noisy worship

In Samuel Chapter 6 of the Bible, King David reportedly joined his subjects and danced with complete abandon before the Lord, a thing that annoyed the queen.

Church worship today has changed. People got tired of the ritualistic worship in the traditional churches and many started keeping away, choosing to worship on TV. In a bid to get the people back to church, many started reforming.

The need for more lively worship saw the rise of Pentecostal churches, popularly known as ‘born again churches’, where music, dance and instruments form the core of praise; the pastors are flamboyant, working their audiences with vigor.

That’s the style and church congregations today love it; having fun in the church. That’s mainly due to demographic factors, very many energetic young Christians who simply can’t stand the boredom of ritualistic church services.

My family estate is located just behind a big Anglican cathedral and it has three Sunday services; the early morning one from 6am to 8am is called ‘renewal service’, followed by the English and local language services, respectively.

I will tell you that the renewal service is always fully packed, no space for late comers; the service is about dance and loud praise with colourful play of instruments.

The service, which is mainly full of the youth, was created to counter competition from the popular ‘new churches.’

If our churches are investing in loud music systems for worship, the development is demand driven; worship is no longer a ritual but a fun experience where people rejoice in God’s presence.

We could help churches acquire soundproofing but shutting them down will only leave one alternative for young Christians: the disco hall or pubs where they can dance and shout.The police and church should be partners.

The writer is a Christiank.agutamba @gmail.com