Sikh Community of Lincoln
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Prepared by Jeff Clinger, Researcher
The Sikh community of Lincoln is composed primarily of immigrants from India that have come to the U.S. in the last 30 years to work in the fields of medicine, engineering and computer technologies. True to their belief that it is the responsibility of the individual to learn and grow with God, the Sikh community in Lincoln has never been formally organized into any kind of a structure or a hierarchy. When the first Sikhs came to Lincoln in the 1970's, they worshipped with their families in their own homes. Community, however, is still very important to members of the Sikh faith and as the Sikh population grew in Lincoln families would celebrate children’s birthdays or other special holidays in the homes of Sikh friends and family. By January of 1985, services were held in each other’s homes approximately once a month. In 1993-1994, members of the community decided they would like to worship together as an assebled community once a month, the first Sunday of every month. The community meets at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings with individual members of the community remaining devout in their personal prayer lives during the rest of the month.
Demographics
Between 100-150 families worship in the Sikh community. This assembly is primarily comprised of Indian immigrants, their spouses, and their children. The youngest in the community are newborns and the oldest current member is in his 80’s. Most of the adults speak Punjabi, the language of the worship service, but most of their younger children are not fluent in the liturgical language. In addition to Punjabi and English, members of the Sikh community also speak Hindi and other dialects from India such as Orya.
Description of the Center and Activities
The Sikh community of Lincoln has no set temple or building for worship. Each family within the community will host the monthly worship service at some point throughout the year.
The Sikh community in Lincoln worships together on the first Sunday of every month. In addition to the community worship, individual members of the community conduct prayers and worship on their own throughout the week. Most families will also provide training on the Sikh religion, Indian culture and the Punjabi language for their children at home. In addition to the monthly worship services, there are also weekly children's classes in traditional music led by Mrs. Khurana.
The youth of the community have the opportunity to travel to Sikh camps in the summer. These camps are organized in and around cities with larger Sikh populations and are an opportunity for children to come together and learn more about Sikhism and Sikh life in the U.S.
Though there is not a community newsletter currently published, there is an email list used to send out information regarding meetings and services. Those interested in being added to this email list should contact Amrita Mahapatra at (402) 423-7636.
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Dr. Baldir Singh Khurana (Fall 2001)
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Cooperative Relationships
The Sikh community in Lincoln is very active in the Lincoln Interfaith Council and are closely tied to the Hindu community in the Lincoln-Omaha area.
Sikhs and Hindus often worship together, celebrate Indian holidays and host Indian cultural programs. According to Amrita Mahapatra, “It would be very uncommon to go to a Sikh service and not have a Hindu in attendance and it would be very uncommon to go to a Hindu service and not have a Sikh present.” Much of the work the Sikh and Hindu communities do together is organized through the Indian Association of Nebraska.
One of the largest cooperative projects of the Hindu and Sikh communities was a fundraising fast held from Febuary 23rd-25th, 2001 to raise money for earthquake victims in India. Over the course of 48 hours, through fasting and praying, theys raised $35,000 for the American Red Cross.
In addition to working with the Lincoln Interfaith Council and the Hindu community, Sikhs have also been involved with Christian communities in Lincoln. Amrita Mahapatra and others have been invited to speak at church services and to help lead worship in Christian churches.
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Members of the Sikh Community sharing a meal (Fall
2001)
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As a religious minority, what kind of obstacles or problems has the community encountered in Lincoln?
While individual members of the community have occasionaly felt as if they were looked at strangely perhaps in response to their clothing (men wear turbans, for example) or for speaking in their native language, the community does not feel they have faced any more prejudice than other minority groups.
One obstacle faced by the community is its relatively small size. Because there is not a great number of worshipers in the community they cannot afford to have a temple and the community cannot do as much outreach and work in the community.
The Sikh community is very supportive of each other and this is crucial, exaplins
Amrita Mahapatra, because in the so-called secular world of public school, children
have vacations for Christian holidays and this can reinforce the predominance
of Christianity in the minds of young Sikhs. Having other Sikh children
and families to spend time with and celebrate holidays with allows
Sikh children the opportunity to understand and grow in their tradition.