All Souls Anglican Church, Bringchang, Cameron Highlands

Sunday 22 July

We went earlier in the week to find the location of All Souls Church, which is, as far as we know, the only Anglican church in this part of the Cameron Highlands. It's just down the road from where we're staying, and the service is at 10.30 am today, and it's in English.

There's some houses nearby, but All Souls Church stands alone, in a slightly elevated position, surrounded by grassland. It's about the size of a small Methodist chapel, and appears to be concrete built. A young Malaysian woman is standing outside the church door; she welcomes us, and hands us a notice sheet. A young pastor is standing at the door, and asks us where we're from.

The church looks like a Nissan hut inside, with a curved ceiling, and is painted entirely in magnolia. The layout is simple. At the front of the church, in the centre, is a narrow communion table, covered in a white cloth, with a 1ft high brass cross on it. There's a tub of fresh flowers, another brass cross, and a communion rail. To the left of these are a piano, a set of drums, and a couple of music stands; to the right, a large screen, with a photo of grapes on it, and the bible verse “Fruit of the spirit” - John 15:5. The congregational chairs (wooden with rattan seats, some slightly in need of repair) are in straight rows, with a centre aisle.

There is no choir, and no-one to play the drums or the piano today. There are no hymn books or bibles, but several of the congregation of about 40 people (which includes 3 young indian boys, the only children present) have brought their own. The overhead screen is dominant throughout the service, even during the prayers and the sermon.

What is different about this service?

• A man with a guitar leads us in choruses (non of which I know, but inspiring nevertheless) for the 1^st 10 minutes of the service;
• the choruses are followed by prayers of intercession, which have a strong political content, imploring people to vote wisely “for a Malaysia free from corruption and discrimination” at the forthcoming general election;
• The offertory hymn is the only one I know: “Give thanks with a grateful heart”
• The prayer given on receipt of the offering, usually said just by the minister in Methodist Churches, is on the overhead screen and said by everyone together;
• The welcome (everyone claps when the pastor welcomes “visitors from England”) and notices are given half-way through the service;
• As Reg says at the end of the service, 'You know what was different about this service? There was no Lord's Prayer.”

To my shame, I hadn't even noticed this; but when Reg mentions this fact I'm really surprised. The service lasts about an hour and 10 minutes; for me, it's a joyful experience, just to be able to worship with others after so many weeks of not being able to come to church. I share with Reg that I feel that the overhead screen was overused, but that's only my opinion. Also I think that the large number of bible verses used in the sermon tended to confuse the theme of the service (Christian Unity), rather than enhance it.

After the service, an older woman with a New Zealand accent invites us to stay for coffee. She introduces herself as Lorraine, and tells us that she's lived in Malaysia and has worshipped at this church for over 40 years. She's originally from New Zealand, but while studying in England as a young woman she met and married her husband, a Malaysian also studying in England, who's father owned a tea plantation.

Lorraine tell us that although this church has always been owned by the Anglican church, it has only had an Anglican (Malaysian) pastor for the past 15 years; before that it was run by missionaries. I mention that it was unusual not to have the Lord's Prayer in an Anglican morning service; Lorraine nods knowingly.

“On the 1^st and 3^rd Sundays of the month, we have a straight Anglican communion service with all the liturgies,” Lorraine says. “But on the other Sundays, our young Malaysian pastor wants the freedom to hold different, more modern types of services, often using hymns by Malaysian composers.”

Perhaps that's why I don't know most of the hymns. Lorraine strikes me as a deeply spiritual person who's had to face lots of changes in her church over the years, including some she may not have agreed with. But in faith she's been willing to move forward.

Someone hands her a bag of money. “I'm church treasurer,” she smiles. She draws my attention to a drawing of a modern church building, which has been laminated and is fixed to the outer church door.

“We're raising money for a new church building,” she says. Here's a church with faith; the congregation numbers between 30 and 50, and there's an item in the notices saying, “please pray for a leader to chair the Building Committee so that the church building renovation project can make progress.”

Lorraine tells us that although there are Chinese-Malaysians and Indian-Malaysians, the majority of the Malaysian population is, understandably, Malay; and Malays don't have a choice in their religion. They are Muslim from birth. Should a Muslim want to convert to the Christian faith, it's an extremely difficult thing to do, and Islam leaders will try hard to persuade the defector not to leave the Muslim faith. Lorraine explains that years ago it wasn't a problem being a Christian – there was a “live and let live” attitude towards religion. She has many Malay friends; but it's a sad fact that Christians, who are a minority faith in Malaysia, are often discriminated against.

Lorraine tells of an incident involving a box of bibles, which were recently delivered by The Bible Society to the Christian church in Malaysia. The government insisted on stamping them to the effect that they were not to be used for evangelism purposes; they must only be used by those who are already Christians. The Christian church in Malaysia refused to accept the bibles on this basis.

One of the worship leaders in the service mentioned a political leader who promised to “rid this province of the scourge of Christianity”. Christians throughout Malaysia prayed that this leader wouldn't be elected; fortunately their prayers were answered. We discuss China, where Christianity is a fast-growing religion, and come to the conclusion that it's easier to be a Christian in communist China that in supposedly-democratic Malaysia.

I thank Lorraine for talking to us, and we exchange email addresses.

“One last question,” I ask, “What role do women have in the church here? I notice that no women were involved in the leading of worship this morning.”

“ That's because women don't want to be involved,” replies Lorraine. “ I'm on the reading rota in church, but there are no women pastors or lay pastors in Malaysia. We haven't got that far yet. And as for gay and lesbian church leaders .. don't even go there.”

“I'll pray for your church,” I tell Lorraine, as Reg and I say our goodbyes and walk away into the warm sunshine of the Cameron Highlands.