Ever since I was born, I have been attending St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church. Many of the people that attend the church are Serbian. My mom is Serbian and I am a proud Serb myself. I attended church this Sunday for Easter. I also took communion and confession this week as well. Christian Orthodoxy is a beautiful religion and tends to grow on me as I get older. It is an organization consisting of followers of Christ. I love the songs the choir sings and the natural sound of English and Serbian language mixed together. Divine Liturgy is the main service used in Christian Orthodox churches. In class we learned the six stages of worship, which takes us from the profane and transcending into the sacred. Starting with the opening to the closing. When participating in church this week I paid close attention to these stages.
The first stage of worship is the opening; there we light a candle before entering the church. Followers of the Christian Orthodox faith believe in the Old Testament and by lighting a candle before entering is showing that we are entering The Kingdom of Heaven by offerings and prayer. People believing in the Old Testament before Christ, believed in sacrificing an animal. Jesus was the last one to sacrifice to save us from our sins, therefore people now do not find it necessary to kill animals anymore. Before entering the sanctuary we cross ourselves in the name of, “The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.”, to prepare one’s self upon entering the hallowed ground.
The next stage is called the establishing rapport; there we enter the Kingdom of Heaven “spiritually.” At the beginning of church our priest carries around a censor where incense are burned in making the church smell good. As soon as I smell the inc...
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...n as well as English. There are three visual symbols: focal, secondary specific, and general. The focal symbol in a Christian Orthodox Church would be the alter table. This is the table where the priest is preparing the bread and wine during the service for communion. The next visual symbol is called the secondary specific and in a Christian Orthodox Church it would be the icons of saints on the Holy doors separating the people from the alter. The last visual symbol is called the general symbol, which could be the pews in the church. Symbols not only give the person a view of the church, but can also give a little understanding of the church.
Serbian is my heritage, my family background, Christian Orthodox is my religion. Christian Orthodox is a religion based on Christianity. Orthodox means the right meaning and Christian is the followers of Jesus Christ.
Icons are not portrayals of scenes like stained glass windows, they are of one or two people, a holy portrait. Iconography is not restricted to the church but can also be displayed in houses or worn as jewelry.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Attending a non-denominational church we start out with worship and being free to sing and dance and let our spirits take over. This may come out as someone running around the pews, or on their knees, but while in the Catholic Church the environment was much different. It was a lot more structured and formal in a sense than that of the non-denominational church where I practice my faith. Another difference was the offering, or as the Catholic Church calls it, the Gift. I am use to this concept, but rather than taking Gifts at the beginning of the service they take it at the end; then came communion. This is where you take part in eating the bread and drinking the wine in symbolism of Jesus’ body and blood. This I was also familiar with, but was informed by the couple that I went with that they partake in com...
The Greek Orthodox Church is one of the three major branches of Christianity, which "stands in today's society as one of the communities created by the apostles of Jesus in the region of the eastern Mediterranean, and which spread by missionary activity throughout Eastern Europe" .The word orthodox comes from Greek, this means right-believing. Currently, the orthodox religion has more than 174 million followers throughout the world.
In my paper I will talk about my visit to The Community Church at Murphy's Landing (CCML). I have chosen this particular Church because it is a family church type and my neighbor goes there and she encouraged me to go with her. I went there with my neighbor on April 6, 2014.This church is an appropriate for this assignment because the people there are welcoming me with an open heart and they are willing to help and provide me with information. When I visit the Church’s site I read these words “We know visiting a new church can be intimidating. But, we want to help you to be as comfortable as possible when and if you join us”. The people gather in the church weekly to glorify God in joyful worship. The expressions of worship on CCML take many forms a prayer, a hymn of reverent awe, a guitar ringing with a chorus of praise, or a warm handshake and a welcoming smile. Their weekly services begin at 9:30 each Sunday at church. Also, they have weekly podcast if anyone wants to listen online. They have many types of services for parents, kids and students. People at CCML were so friendly; they gather around me and start welcoming me, one by one. People there introducing themselves to me, one after another and provide me with their contact information and help. Then we start talking about the church services and Christianity in particular. The mission of CCML was knowing, growing and loving. They seek to live out our mission by worshipping together as a local community of believers, growing in spiritual maturity through discipleship, education, and small groups, caring for one another within the context of the larger church body and small groups, and Communicating the love of Christ to our world, both through local outreach and global mis...
The term liturgy has its basis in Greek mythology. It can be defined as a form of worship that is that is done according to particular beliefs and practices that are held by a certain group of people. The beliefs and the rituals are usually practiced by the whole group. It may be understood as a ritual that is usually elaborate. Ritual on the other hand refers to a number of activities that are performed in a sequential manner and which more often are prescribed by specific communities. Liturgy plays different functions depending on their nature. To begin with, the catholic liturgy expresses certain religious beliefs towards a Supreme Being and therefore done in a manner that is an expression of worship to the Supreme Being. The term ritual
The Pagan Rus did not have a difficult time identifying and worshiping Orthodox Christianity because Orthodoxy fit their general ethical boundaries. The Rus, however, still had to find ways to make the opposing views of polytheism and monotheism culturally fit. They did this via a practice called double faith. Certain pagan rituals and stories were saved and some pagan rituals and stories were tweaked by locals to fit Christian saints and God. In this way, Russian Orthodoxy arguably adapted more to paganism and traditional folklore than vice-versa. This helped create one of the most unique cultures that permeates Russia to this day.
Orthodox Judaism is said to have begun in 1851 (OrthodoxJudaism). Orthodox Judaism is the practice of the traditional form of Judaism. They formed due to the reform movement that was changing the beliefs of the Jewish religion, and they wanted to keep the traditional beliefs (OrthodoxJuadism). Orthodox Judaism is the strictest form of Judaism (OrthodoxJuadism). They follow the Jewish laws very strongly (WhatO). The Jewish laws are rules about daily life. A source goes into detail by saying what these rules are, “what to do when you wake up in the morning, what you can and cannot eat, what you can and cannot wear, how to groom yourself, how to conduct business, how you can marry, how to observe the holidays and the Shabbat, and perhaps the most important, how to treat God, other people, and animals” (Rich). An example of some of the things that Orthodox Jews cannot eat is pork and shellfish. A source says, “How animals are slaughtered, prepared, cooked, and eaten. Food is kosher (permitted) and terefah (forbidden)” (Breuilly). Orthodox Judaism is a monotheistic religion which means they believe in one God. They believe that God will send a Messiah who will end all bad things ...
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church ultimately had more differences which ended up causing their split, they once had quite a few a similarities. The churches shared “many of the same prayers and liturgies” (“Eastern Orthodox”, 2001 para.1). Both the Eastern and Western churches had a difference in opinion in defining and numbering sacraments but they did agree on what the seven major sacraments for their churches should be. They also agreed upon that the male clergy should consist of bishops, priests, and deacons.
into a richer experience of worship and a more effect life of service" (Crabb, 1977, p.31). The method to establishing an
Finally, the last book of the Bible inspires hope in the lives of the worshipping church. It depicts they day when God and the Church will be united forever and face-to-face. No longer will there be a temple to go and meet God, because God himself will be the temple (Revelation 21:22). The hope for ultimate intimacy with God forever drives the focus and vision of the church to worship in the meantime. Through good or bad, easy or difficult, success or failure, pleasure or pain… the reality of intimate worship with God for eternity gives strength and eager expectation of the New Earth to come.
Growing up, I was raised in a southern Baptist church setting. Every Sunday you were required to attend church which included going to Sunday school, first service, and second service. You were also required to be active in the church whether it be ushering or singing in the choir. For my foreign experience of worship I decided to attend a Catholic church. At first I was a bit skeptical about stepping outside of my background history of worship because I thought that attending a Catholic church may change some of my beliefs or practices. I will admit before my attendance to this Catholic Church I had negative thoughts and was determined that my paper would be only about negative experience that I had. Once I entered the church all of my negative thoughts were out of my mind. Prior to researching background information I really didn’t think that Catholics and Baptist had a lot in common, besides their belief in the faith of Jesus Christ. In my essay about my Catholic Church experience I will describe the physical setting of the church, tell you about the church service, and lastly tell
It is believed that Easter is the greatest celebration in the Christian calendar, and the foundation on which Christianity is built on (John 2005, 2579). Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ three days after his death by crucifixion (John 2005, 2579). The significance of Easter Sunday goes back to Christ’s claims of being God, because claiming to be God was a direct violation of Jewish Law (John 2005, 2580). It was only after the death and through the resurrection of Christ that people began to have an understanding of his claims at being God (John 2005, 2579). The resurrection led people to put faith in Christ and, in turn, Christianity. To commemorate Easter Sunday, Roman Catholics partake in services such as the Easter Vigil to honor the sacrifices that were made for humanity by Jesus Christ. The Easter Vigil is a service held in Catholic churches that commemorates the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. It consists of four segments being the service of the light, liturgy of the word, liturgy of the baptism, and liturgy of the Eucharist.
As I was attending mass, I noticed, it was very organized. There was a lot of sitting and standing, where I found myself struggling to understand. I noticed that they read some passages from the bible and sang a lot of psalms and hymns. The only thing that was familiar to me was the Eucharist.
In the early summer mornings, when the sunshine is young and playful, inside the church another realm is born. Sitting in the back rows one can see a heavenly mist flowing though the windows and filling the sleepy altar with life and hope. It is a different dimension in the breast of an unsuspecting world. Moments such as these bring you joy and reassurance and also show you that there really is someone out there: your soul is elevated, your mind is thirsty for new experiences and your body is strengthened.