United Sikh Religious & Educational Foundation (aka Sikh Gurdwara)

You can listen to the interview with Head Pastor Mohan Singh here.

The best, the absolute best part of this quest to visit and talk with 52 different religious groups is that feeling of walking into a place and not knowing anything about them, not knowing what to expect. The discovery of the unknown - at least, for me.

The worst part? Walking into a place and having no clue what the heck I'm doing. usually, though, I fake it.

I arrived a little early for services at Sikh Gurdwara. Early enough that I was all but the first person there. Luckily a family pulled up a little bit later. They were kind enough to show me where to take off my shoes and socks, and a small basket of cloth I could use to cover my head. Unlike other churches I've visited, Sikh's believe in keeping their head covered during worship services.

As always, I had my hat with me, so I could just wear that. First time I could just wear wear my usual regalia inside a church and respect their beliefs at the same time.

The room had an alter at one end, a white sheet covering a table. The room was separated in two, both sides covered with a large sheet. To the right facing the alter was a small podium, to the left a little stage with a few microphones. I could hear people walking about outside the main worship hall, and smell spicy foods cooking away. It turns out this was actually a part of the worship service - but we'll go into that later.

As people came in, they could come before the alter and give an offering, usually some money and flowers, kneeling and pressing their forehead to the floor before respectfully backing away to take a seat on the floor or the back bench of the worship hall.

Head Pastor Mohan Singh noticed me and gave me a brief tour and history of the religion - which you can hear in the interview (see link above). The important thing to understand is that the Sikh religion started with Guru Nanak in the 15th Century in Punjab, which used to be a part of India (now its part of Pakistan). Unlike the pantheistic religion of Hinduism that was prevalent in that period, Guru Nanak proclaimed that there was only one God, and spread his message across India, the Middle East, and China.

The service itself was two hours of song. The scriptures of the Sikhs, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (which is considered to be the current Guru for the Sikhs) is one long work of poetry written by former gurus, each chapter indicating the musical meter that the goes with the poetry.

This is what is used in the service. For almost two hours, people would come up to the platform with instruments such as a keyboard accordion, small drums played with finger and palms, and at one point a large guitar looking instrument played by either plucking or with a bow. People would sing the section, sometimes in a choir, sometimes with one person singing as others played. I regretted not understanding the language, but I could appreciate the beauty of the songs.

At the end, Pastor Singh took to the platform and gave a sermon, in Punjab like the rest of the poetry had been read. At the end, the congregation stood and offered a prayer, kneeling and pressing forehead to the ground. After this, men moved through the congregation, offering a combination of flour and oil that tasted sweeter than I would have thought.

It turns out, the final part of the worship service was about to come. All left the worship hall and moved into a cafeteria to the side, where the food, all vegetarian and all delicious, was offered. Each person sat upon mats, every person, whether rich or poor, prince or pauper, sitting on the ground so they were equal to each other. No castes, no differences between them - but all equal before the sight of God, each partaking of the same simple food.

Did I mention the food was good?

The next day I had a chance to interview Pastor Singh. We spoke of how the Sikh religion started, the beliefs and practices. The entire time, he and his congregation were gracious, making sure my needs were met. When I left, he was still making sure I had anything I needed - water for my trip, a bit of food if I was hungry.

I didn't, but asked him if there was anything he needed. His eyes twinkled as he patted me on the arm. "All I need if your love, my friend," he told me.

I was wrong. It's not the discovery of the unknown that's the best part. It's meeting the people.