The church that I recently visited for my church visitation paper was Benson Pentecostal Holiness Church located in Benson, North Carolina. Benson Pentecostal Holiness Church is of course of the Pentecostal denomination. I visited this during their regularly scheduled Sunday morning service at 10:50 a.m.
Benson Pentecostal Holiness definitely falls more towards the contemporary side than traditional during their worship services. The church has a very good number of attendees (238), especially considering that it is the second, newer church that this denomination has open in Benson.
Being that the church was fairly new it did not have many of the aesthetics that I am used to at my 160-year-old church. For instance the building had no stain glass windows and organ. The outside looked more like a new meeting building, or office space than a church, and I missed the brick masonry and brass chandeliers that I am accustomed too, but this church did have a more modern feel. This church did not have a balcony either, but then again not many of the newer churches do. Also the church had individual chairs for each person, which is a thing that many newer churches do these days instead of pews.
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The greeters and people we’re both friendly and helpful. The preacher had a nice message about the Trinity, God the Father, Son, and primary emphasized Holy Spirit. The preacher did read from the bible but could have used it a little more in his sermon. The only uncomfortable moment for me during the service would defiantly have too been when a couple members of the congregation started to talk in tongues. I’m sure you could imagine my look of amazement while this was going on, since I come from a very traditional Baptist church and have barely heard anyone speak up during the service much less in any sort of tongue or any other sort of
I have been to several different types of denominations over the course of my life time. I was raised to go to where the Lord felt was right for me. So, as I was trying to decide what I wanted to write my research paper about the New Salem Association of the Old Regular Baptist stood the most. I find the New Salem Association of the Old Regular Baptist to be very interesting. Their beliefs stand out the most to me. The New Salem Association of the Old Regular Baptist has many different beliefs.
Parishioners often ask me if there is really any difference between United Methodist and the Baptists down the road. The answer, “quite a lot,” generally surprises them. When they ask me to explain, I often point them in the direction of our polity and the theology it reflects.
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
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.
Pentecostalism is arguably the most important mass religious movement of the twentieth century. Today, this association is the second largest sub-group of global Christianity. It has over 30 million American adherents and a worldwide following of more than 430 million (Anderson, 1992). Pentecostalism’s gloomy beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century make the movement’s growth all the more
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...
My first visit was a simple observation visit. I met with Gary and Dina at the Kingdom Hall for the 1pm Bible Talk service and the Wa...
The Catholic Church’s corruption during the late Middle Ages further enabled church reforms due to the ever-increasing view of the loss of credibility within the church by both the laity and clergy. Thus implementing the ideas of reform. Martin Luther is considered the father of the reformation where he instigated the challenging for the church, papal authority, and changed how the people were allowed to worship. Carlstadt and Zwingli, much like Luther, practiced Evangelical traditions, however, they expanded further than Luther in regards to doctrine and practice. John Calvin on the other hand challenged some of the Evangelical and Reformed Traditions by various religious changes politically and socially. Lindberg examines the Evangelical
An example of this movement is at the First Baptist Fellowship Church in Pine Bluff, where aggressive steps have been taken to introduce the youth to the teachings of Christianity. Youth pastor Chris Meyer says that in the past seven years the inrolment of the youth has grown from around Fifty to over two hundred as of February 1999. Meyer says “ The membership in our youth program began to explode in such a short time that the church didn’t have a place big enough to hold them.” Of the two hundred or so young people (ages 14-24) 25% of them come from Pine Bluff’s low income black population. Most of the black children came to the church by way of the Light House, a old bakery in the middle of the black majority neighborhoods that the Church set up to counsel people in the poor part of town. Meyer says “ kids began to hang around the ce...
According to Dr. King the proper role of the Christian Church should be seen as a force for social change and human betterment. He makes specific points about how the Christian Church should still follow the same organized religion as they once did in the early Christian times. In the early Christian times we saw people risk their lives and even persecution to help build the world into a better place and create justice within. King argues that the Christian Churches are becoming irrelevant as they seek to maintain their status quo rather than to help encourage their church members to transcend their weaknesses. King being a minister, sees how the Christian Churches are choosing to support a group mentality of injustice rather than justice. According to King, justice is something that upholds the dignity of the human spirit while injustice is working against it. By the Christian Churches choosing to support injustice they are no longer forcing individuals to confront their failures and change.
Bolger, Ryan & Gibbs, Eddie. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian community in postmodern cultures (Grand Rapids, MI) Baker Academic, 2005
Robeck Cecil M, The Azusa Street Mission and Revival: The Birthplace of the Global Pentecostal Movement. (Nashville: Nelson reference& electronic) 2006.
His church is a “good sized” suburban church that has been around for 295 years. He describes the parishioners as having a “broad tent” of theological views. This congregation is open to new ideas and re-visiting the old. They appear to be carrying out intentional missional work in their community
I also thought that I would instantly start doubting my practices and beliefs after attending this church. To my surprise, after this experience was over I still felt the exact same way about beliefs. The most enjoyable part of my experience would have to be the scenery of the church, from the marvelous baptismal font to the paintings in the windows. My least favorite part of my experience would have to be the sermon, and maybe it is because I am not use to listening to a short rushed through summary. It actually felt weird being outside of my comfort zone and being a “foreigner” at a different church. I cannot really say that this visit to this Catholic Church really affected me in any way, but I will say that this was a pleasurable experience to have in my
It may seem a little bit strange, but my favorite place in town in none other than this beautiful Evangelic Church. However, it wasn’t always so.