The very first thing that stood out to me when I entered the Church was the way it was build. It wasn’t just merely a big hall or building, it looked like a traditional Church, like the famous ones in Europe, but smaller. Nevertheless, I thought it was impressive. It consisted of many arch structures, had a huge alter, a very big cross hanging from the ceiling and many more crosses scattered throughout the Church. The windows weren’t see through but rather were paintings depicting Jesus’s life story and angels. Moreover, there were sculptures all around the church, some large with multiple characters and some smaller ones. Also, instead of chairs in rows, there were long wooden benches, called pews, which had cushions were people could kneeled …show more content…
The pastor used the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector to illustrate that doing everything that we are supposed to is not going to lead us to redemption if we don’t open our hearts to the Lord. He went on to say that we shouldn’t just follow the law but act in accordance to the Lord, that we should aim for our hearts to be like Christ, and become the creation that God wanted us to be. In order to achieve that we need to change the way we do things in life. The Pastor pointed out that we tend to always complain about others, whether it’s the terrorists, criminals, pagans, coworkers or whoever, but that complaining doesn’t do any good. The Lord wants us to change and not to complain. Interestingly, he then started to sing a popular song that isn’t a traditional worship song but rather a pop song by Michael Jackson: “Man in The Mirror”. He said the chorus of the song very closely represents the Gospel, and he was right. God wants us to recognize our own sinfulness, he wants us to change ourselves so we can change the world. It is not good enough if we just do what is expected of Christans to do, our heart needs to be in it too, completely. We have talked about similar ideas in class, for example, we discussed that simply living according to the law, going to …show more content…
Describing the main difference, is a bit trickier, however, because there were a lot of differences. Yet, I think the biggest one was the behavior of the audience. At my church, people just walk in and take a seat. At the church I visited, the people walked in, took some holy water, and made the Sign of the Cross. Further, before sitting down, they would kneel before entering the pew and again make the Sign of the Cross. Moreover, at my church the people always bring their Bible, and the church would hand out a program with some space to take notes. However, at the church I visited, no one brought a Bible or took notes. They were dedicating their entire attention to the service. Also, at my church the audience nod or say “Amen” during the service to show that they agree with what is being said, yet, at the church I visited the audience was engaged all the time. The pastor would say something and all of the audience responds, it was very interesting. Moreover, I did not see anyone who was on their phone, which I do see frequently at my church. Interesting, also was that during the latter part of the Mass, before receiving the Communion, the people would keel down in their pew, showing their surrendering before
The towers of the church have cone-shaped tops with one being larger than the other. There is a large circle shaped window in the center of the west facade. There are windows in the towers and windows at the base. There are doors and pedestals.There are details carved into the building which include the image of holy figures.
This experience was really out of my comfort zone. It was hard to be an outsider and not prepared for what was to come and not speaking one of the languages used to understand the entire service. This service learning project gave me the opportunity to try a new church and gain a deeper respect for a different religion. Everyone at the service was very educated on speaking the sacred texts and participating in the rituals practiced. I hope to have gained a better understanding for those who are new to religions and are nervous to come to a worship service. I will make more of an effort to be welcoming and accommodating to those who are new to our church.
What information from this week’s articles might be helpful as you think through this case?
The church's architecture over all is simple. It is 24 by 34 square feet and set on a stone wall. It is a frontier style cabin and is made from hand hewn logs, which are notched at each end so that they fit together snugly at the corners. The roof is shingled...
After walking inside and trying to first experience, the church, and all its beauty and ornateness, I began examining the floor plan and elevations of the cathedral. Grace Cathedral was build in a gothic style, which it represents in its architecture inside and out. There were three huge rose windows. One at the very top of the main entrance and one on either end of the transept. There wer...
The church external appearance was quite different than other churches that I have seen. It was basically a big white stucco block with a gold dome on top and four decorated spikes on each corner of the building that surrounded the dome. The people of course were all Greek and were very well dressed. Most of the men and boys all wore suits, and If not they had some kind of vest on. I don’t know if this was some kind of rule or tradition, but it mostly seemed as a respect to God. The women all wore the basic dresses, and all the skirts fell down below the knee. Everybody was proper and ordered. As I walked in the church I entered a lobby of some kind. What I saw hear was something like social hour. Everybody was in there. They were all speaking Greek, and I felt as if I was in a family reunion party. The children were all together; the adults talked together and the young adults all were together. The way they all socialize is when someone comes up to say hello, they give each other a kiss on the cheek and a hug. These people are all very close to each other. It seems as if the church is the center of their lives. I admire that trait as well. To enter the auditorium you must enter this little room, which has a piece of garment from St. Constantine and St. Helen. Also there were candles lit. As they walked through this little room they lit a candle and knelt down for a moment to pray, and then touched each garment and made a cross over their chest.
Once the service started, my friend showed me where the schedule for the service was and what each number meant. There were different colors of numbers in the book and those indicated what section the reading or song was coming from. This was different from the church that I attend because we have a choir and a band that plays the songs and if you wish to join in you can but for the Catholic Church there is, no choir and the members of the church are the ones who sing. After some singing, the priest came up to talk and this is very different from what I expected. I was used to flipping through the channels and seeing the catholic churches with the priest who were a ...
It was magnificent. The first thing to catch my eye was a monstrous chandelier that hung from the 50 foot ceiling. It was awe inspiring. As my eyes surveyed the room, it was hard to miss the antique maple pews that provided seats for approximately 300 people. Plush emerald green carpet was the grounding to the room. It's path led directly up to the stage which was home to a variety of items. The band, pulpit, arid baptismal were the most obvious. Above the stage was a huge dome, it was colored in shades of blue, mauve, white, and several other soft accents. A bright light was right in the center of its point. Our gazing was soon interrupted when the official greeter returned. This time she was quick and to the point. She collected our cards and informed us that service was about to begin. Within a matter of minutes, a middle-aged man stepped up to the pulpit and asked us to stand.
When the service, started we sang a few songs and then the Bishop came and spoke. To the left of the Bishop was a clerk who would count the members in order to see who was there and who was missing from the crowd. It was intriguing to me that if someone was missing, a group of people would contact the missing members to ensure their safety and wellbeing. When the Bishop began speaking, he gave the announcements and introduced the fact that it was testimony day. After the Bishop spoke, the boys sitting near the communion area began giving communion to the members.
On September 6, 2015, I attended a 7:30 a.m. service at Titus Harvest Dome. Before that time there are people who come in early to pray. I did not choose the best seat to observe my church, but it had to do for the time being. As the service began with praise and worship, I noticed that not many people participated in it until the Pastor came onto the stage. R.J. Washington is the founder and Pastor of THD. As a usual practice before the Sermon would begin, we would go around greeting each other, to make each other feel comfortable. Since it was an early morning service it is understandable that many were still tired. There was a variety of genre sets being used to focus on the Sermon. Most of them were written genres, either already written
For my observation trip, I decided to visit St. Ignatius Church in Oregon, Ohio. I visited a mass at 11:30 on Sunday November 19. I decided to visit a catholic church because my family has no religious background whatsoever, and I decided that I could go with one of my good friends that way if I need to ask questions, she was there to answer them for me.
God commissions true unity; it is grounded in covenant with Him. The bible teaches that it is good to live in unity with others (Psalm 133:1 NRSV). Ephesians chapter 4 verse 3 says, “the church should make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3 NRSV). Furthermore, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13 tells us “the church must come to the unity of the faith of the Son of God in order to determine the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13 NRSV). In other words, God desires unity among His believers based on His purpose for the kingdom. He wants the church unified in Spirit, Faith, and the mind of Christ working together for the kingdom building. Unity is essential to the livelihood of the body of Christ. Therefore, unity that is not grounded in covenant with God is false unity.
Jesus served as example for all of humanity. His life work was to solve the fundamental problem of humanities sin and to provide eternal life with the Father. Jesus Christ demonstrated the way humans should live. He modeled behavior to the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, women, tax collector, to His friends. He came to set the example of the way to live for Christians. Basically, Jesus life was an outline of how to live your own life. Jesus confirmed that you should love your neighbor as yourself. That you should love your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength. This was demonstrated on a daily bases. Jesus verified that although humans are prone to sin, one can make a choice to not sin. When tempted by Satan, Jesus refrained from sin and turned to God the Father for strength to turn away from the temptation. Jesus was the teacher of complete, true knowledge.
The images of the Church are extremely important in Church history. They explain how and why the people of a certain time viewed the church. There are many different images that people associate the church with. Most of these images are based on a time period, whether it’s a time of suffering or a time of triumph.
The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the name of the church I attended during the last couple of weeks. It was my friends’ church that was located in Brazil, Indiana. It was a fairly small church compared to other churches I have been to. It was a primarily black church with a few other races that attended also. This church had a guy drumming during every song that was song. I found this church to be very different from the ones we discussed in class.