Visitation Experience Assignment I was born and raised a Catholic Christian, going to church every Sunday, at Holy Infant Catholic Church in Durham, at the will of my parents. Of course I was baptized, had my first communion, and when I got older and more involved, I had my confirmation; about two years ago. Point is, I have attended the same church for a long time, and have grown accustomed to the traditions and customs of my church, and my faith. For this assignment, I chose to visit a synagogue, specifically Sha’arei Shalom Messianic, in Cary, and Mormon Church, specifically The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, in Apex. I’ve always been a bit of a history fan, and after taking a religions class in high school, found I enjoyed learning …show more content…
It was much more solemn and serious in mood compared to the synagogue, even a little more so than my church. There was no greeter when I came in such like that of the synagogue to say hello to people, or like my church to pass out hymn books, which were on the seats. One of the most notable differences between the Mormon Church and my church is that there was no priest or religious authority presiding over the service or church. It seemed like a democracy with a few persons of authority supervising. I gathered this by one of the few people sitting at the front asking for a vote of the attendees for three people who wished to become traveling …show more content…
I found many things strange, but I do not pass any judgement on the differences I saw, only that they are strange to me. I found it very interesting the similarities between my church, the synagogue, and the Mormon Church. Most of the similarities revolved around the messages portrayed by each of the religions. Also, however, the attendees are warm and welcoming to visitors it all three places of worship. When it comes to just between the Mormon Church and my own, when I was looking through the hymn book, I found many familiar songs, although none were sung during my visit. Other than the messages of the religions and the attitude of the followers, the synagogue and the Mormon Church were starkly
The Mormon Church in the nineteenth century was considered strange and isolated by many Americans because of...
I have attended a Christian church my whole life. While I have attended various denominations, I have always considered myself to be non-denominational, not favoring one over the other. The only other churches I have ever attended were Catholic; I have had other family members practice this faith and so have always been a guest with them if I have gone and had the services feel fairly familiar. When we were given the project to go and attend a different religion’s church I wasn’t sure what to expect. I decided to attend a Jewish church since Judaism and Christianity believe some of the same fundamentals but are still separated, I thought it would be a good way to learn more about the church as well as be able to relate better to anyone I know who practices Judaism. Also this taught me what it feels like for someone who does not have any experience in church.
Mead, Frank S., and Samuel S. Hill. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1995. Print.
Scheitle, Christopher P., and Roger Finke. Places of faith: a road trip across America's religious landscape. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
Childhood experiences tend to stay within a person 's life, including the ones that have taught you something as valuable as courage. For me, such experience that taught me how to be courageous, as I am presently, took place when I was about the age of 8. I was traveling with my family from one continent to another to reach our desired destination: America. Before, I had lived in the same city for as long as I remembered and knew everyone around me. I knew my whole village in and out like it was at the back of my hand and was comfortable in whatever corner I went. So as one could imagine, a hometown girl, who hasn’t been exposed to any other areas besides her birthplace, planted in an immense airport, in New York City, wouldn’t result pleasantly. When we were waiting for our
Bushman, Claudia L., and Richard L. Bushman. Building the Kingdom: a History of Mormons in America. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
In the fifties, it was assumed of American families to be active Church goers in their respective religions; however, the idea of consensus didn’t quiet live up to its expectations. Families could all be the same through being religious, but still remain separate by believing in different religions. While the idea of consensus was certainly playing a role in that all people were religious, the safe conflict of being different still remained. Goodwin discusses in her book that everyone in her neighborhood was religious, and that her neighbors were active in attending Church services as was her family as well being Catholic. In general, religion laid out how people should behave in a black and white fashion in order to achieve salvation; however, the rules didn’t always match up with what a person wanted to do. For exa...
Overall, my visit to the Center for Jewish Life in Marlboro, N.J. was an enlightening experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. Ultimately, I thought it was delightful to see that whether you are at a Church or Synagogue, the main purpose of the establishment is to bring people together to pray for health, happiness and love for another.
Mormons have gone through a lot, have broken apart and come together several times while the different branches of Mormonism continue to grow and new branches may still form in the futures. One thing is known that the ‘new religion’ is strong and its believers continue to have faith. To outsides certain practices do seem questionable, yet one question remains, if it is part of Christianity or their own ‘new religion.’
The Church of Latter Day Saints otherwise known as the Mormon Church is very different from the Catholic Church. The Mormon Church origin goes back to the 1800’s in Fayette, New York. The founder of this religion is Joseph Smith; the
The first cultural immersion activity that I participated in was going to St. Charles Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday (March 5, 2014). I had a friend who was catholic attend the church with me so I would have a better understanding of what to do and not stand out so much. In addition, I asked my friend to attend with me so I would not do anything in church that was disrespectful. Before going to the church, I thought that I would have to dress up in dress clothes but my friend told me that it is not necessary to dress up for a catholic church, which surprised me. When we first got there, my friend used the holy water and kneeled before entering the pew. I did not do these things because I felt like I would mess up and it would be disrespectful to the religion to mess up those things. Another thing I noticed was when everyone was entering after they have found their seats they would kneel and pray. Later I asked my friend what everyone was doing and she said it was praying to catch up and talk to God about things that has happened since the last time you talked to him.
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that there are many Gods (Book of Abraham 4:3ff), and that we can become gods and goddesses in the celestial kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20; Gospel Principles, p. 245; Achieving a Celestial Marriage, p. 130). It also teaches that those who achieve godhood will have spirit children who will worship and pray to them, just as we worship and pray to God the Father (Gospel Principles, p. 302).
Upon entering, you could literally feel the sense of calmness in the scene. It was so quiet that I felt even my whispering was too loud. I had no intention of visiting the temple to change my personal beliefs, but I was curious to see what it was like being in a different religious setting. Being able to sit with a monk and hear what he had to say about the Buddhism and some teachings was an amazing experience. The monk had us practicing meditation, which was troublesome for me because I did not really understand or get that feeling of “knowing where my mind was at”. What I liked the most about visiting the temple was that I did not get that forced welcoming feeling that I usually get when I go to a Catholic or Christian church. I do not like all of the forced hellos and handshakes when I am entering a church. During my car ride home, I realized that there are many different types of people and religion in such a small area around us. It was a humbling experience to take the time to learn about a different culture and religion that focused so much on keeping the mind
The people there were all extremely nice and would try to help me understand. They understood and accepted the fact that I wasn’t religious, but was showing interest in their faith. There were not as much people there as I had expected, but that might have been because it was a smaller church. It also wasn’t as racially diverse as I had expected. I thought that because it is the world’s biggest religion, that it
Experiences mold people into who they are destined to become. They teach lesson to the ignorant, inspire the stagnant, and spark the content. A person’s experiences write their past and present, and my experiences wrote a dramatic story. My story begins with a naive child who was blinded by the wicked’s of the world, but one day hell released it’s beast. The beast came in the form of shattering words cracking picture frames and smashing children's hearts. It tore a family into two and transformed this girl into an adult. The beast had hunted her down and handed her the role of a leading her siblings to success. But this evil didn’t gain power over the young child; inside of her it blossomed a caring heart that strived to ease the pain of others