Baptist Church Experience Paper

Wayland Baptist isn’t a big university as in matter of fact the main campus is in Plainview. It has a community of 25,000 on the high plains of west Texas between Lubbock and Amarillo.

Being an active member of Beulah Baptist Church has impacted my life in so many ways; spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. It has helped me grown stronger in loving, worshipping, knowing of God through my praise, dance, and mime. As, a member I have the ability to learn about God and how he can impact not just my life, but other people around me and witness how God can influence their lives. Especially, those who are outside of my family. Attending Beulah has placed myself with people whom have a God-First mind frame. Even, meeting new people has taught me to welcome others with big arms and a huge smile. At Beulah Baptist, it gives me a stable, supportive, and friendly environment filled with loving and caring people.

The main reason that I am sold on this Baptist thing is because our statement of beliefs is not a creed or confession that tries to express all of the things that southern Baptist believe but is instead broad statement that hits the main points. This is important to me because unlike some other mainline denominations Baptists do not base the whole organization around a certain theological system. Because of this the Southern Baptists allow for a minister to change his view as he grows, reads, and learns without having to leave the denomination.

The Holy Bible authorities people to be evangelists for Jesus Christ, and they will impart their beliefs on others, therefore knowing the doctrine of Jesus Christ is important.

As the only white individual entering the church on Sunday I felt extremely out of place and very uncomfortable, at first. Upon entering the church, before I could even find a place to sit, the pastor came to welcome me and showed me a place to sit for the service. The pastor was very kind and so welcoming that my nervousness and worry started to vanish. Once I was seated and more people entered the church, I was treated as if I had always been there and was part of the group. Although I was the minority at the service I did feel very comfortable with my surroundings and with the people in attendance. The whole experience was very interesting and broadened my perspective on the African American culture.

I am the minority of the usual church; typically I am one of four white people who attend the 8am service. I first went with a friend’s family after she had pass away. I was never nervous about going to a predominantly African American church. Everyone welcomed me. The family I went with had me stand up when they called for new people to the church. It then took me 30 extra minutes to get out of the church because everyone gave me a hug. Going into part two of this project I was actually very nervous about going to the Korean church. I think being by myself had a lot to do with it along with not know the language. I was very nervous about not understanding anything that was going on. Additionally I was worried they would not want me there.

I was able to attend three church services at the Athens First United Methodist Church and gain insight on what it was like to be a weekly congregation member. While focusing on the members of the congregation and their mannerisms, the pastor and the way that the congregation was being addressed, and the overall routine of the service I was able to write-up the way that I felt and the things that I noticed while being present. I feel as if the Catholic and Methodist church are different and attending the mass was not something that I was used too. I was experiencing a different religion and church service. I felt like there was a sense of community at each service and I really liked the way that I personally felt welcome each time I went. I am not saying that the catholic church does not have a sense of community, maybe it is because Athens is a small town and members get to know each other very well or what but I felt a strong community vibe. I was able to focus in on the members specifically and the way that they interacted with one another and the pastor. Friendly, is the word that I would use to describe the members. Each person had a smile on their faces on entering and exiting the church. Reverend Robert McDowell did a wonderful job interacting and engaging with the congregation throughout the service. He wanted his people to listen and reflect on the words he was saying not just blankly listen to. Going to the Methodist church was an eye opening experience to me, realizing that going to church and being in college is not a bad thing. It takes up one hour of my time one day a week. This project made me realize the difference between religions and unfamiliar places and how it can be educational and exciting to

It is a very well known church that is in Indiana that I’ve never been to before. When I first walked in everyone was so welcoming and friendly. It is a Baptist church with a lot of people in it. During the service the pastor asked if there were any visitors and he asked us to stand. All the members clapped and smiled and the people around me shook my hand and were very kind. The church was very nice before going into the sanctuary there were paintings all over and going in you could tell they were technically savvy. Because it’s a big church, they have big screens so people way in the back can see. They even have a tech station where they do mic checks and they project stuff on to the screens. It was a very nice church and service and I would like to

For an observation of an AA meeting my classmate and I made arrangements to go to an open meeting at Our Lady Star Of The Sea Church, which was held in a basement during a Tuesday afternoon session at 4:00 p.m. I first looked up the sessions online on a website where it held all the meetings on Staten Island and this one fit my schedule well. Its not unusual for me to be attending or visiting churches but for this assignment it did feel a little out of my comfort zone, because I didn’t know what to expect or what others would think of me. I chose a seat in the back corner that wouldn’t be too obvious yet it seemed like a typical seat for a newbie to sit at. The room was fairly large and I was surprised at how big the crowd got at least 30 plus people attended.

Environment. I made observations of a church service. I enter through the strong, dark red, oak doors with golden handles. The room where the service was held was about 100 by 130 feet and seemed to be rectangular in shape. They were a variety of colors. The walls scale ten feet high until they slant to create the point that forms the ceiling of the chapel. The ceiling was a creamy, white color with natural-colored beams. The walls are comprised of brick ranging in colors of murky brown, black, crimson red. There were no windows in the church. There were twenty lights and each light had five light bulbs each. The floor in the church was covered with a light brown tightly woven carpet. The temperature was a perfect 67 degrees. The only decorations in the church were four or five sets of flowers consisting of only yellow roses in the front of the church. The audience sat in red, cushioned chairs that were right next to each other. There were two groups, one on

In Baptist history there has always been differences in doctrine. This has unfortunately resulted, at times, to separate believers from one another. This can be evident from comparing two American Baptist confessions. The most notable difference in doctrine between The Philadelphia Confession of 1742 and A Treatise on the Faith of the Free Will Baptists, 1834 and 1948 is the doctrine of Calvinism versus free-will. The Philadelphia Confession supported Calvinism and the Free Will Baptists supported Arminianism. A closer look at these two confessions show that throughout Baptist history certain doctrines remain constant while others are debated and cause separation of believers. However, this has not stopped the Gospel message to be preached

My first impression was the passionate kindness coming from everyone. I could tell the sense of community and respect coming from each attendee. Comparing it to the Catholic Church I go to back at home, it was a very different feeling. I could automatically tell that each person was fully present in the worship that was about to happen. I ended up sitting in the back to get a full perspective of the service. As I sat there waiting for the service to start almost every person who walked past my pew either smiled or

In my second field experience, I’d decided to go to a Baptist church. However, I did not come from a religious background. Although I am not completely in the dark when it comes to religion I have learn about different religion through friends and books. Therefore, I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally experience a service and put my ignorance aside. Meaning the assumption and expectation I had of church service. Furthermore, it provided me the opportunity to challenge myself and my own biases I have towards going to church. Once I went to church I was surprise to see so many black people, for the first time since I moved too Greensburg, I was actual able to see a room overflowing with individual who looked just like me, my first emotion was excitement and enjoy. Some of my expectation, was something I have learned from my mother. My mother always told me that “black people churches last longer”, with this in mind I was prepare to be there for a long time. However, to my surprise it did not last as long as I’d expected it to. My overall experience, was warming, peaceful and positive.

I honestly enjoyed the attendance at the Messianic Alliance of Metro Atlanta in Stone Mountain Georgia on the 28th of October 2017. During this experience I was very scared and nervous also very anxious to sit in a church for the first time in over 7 years. I met a few of the elder women who said that they enjoy their times at the synagogue. A few of my little self-esteem issues clearly showed as we started singing praise, I was reading the board and trying to connect on a spiritual side. While seeing many other I was shocked, to see them dressed so formally with their long hair and nothing to tie it up or to see them in long skirts. I adapted towards the service after 30 minutes, of dancing and praising, I would say. The most important scariest

     Another part of the service that I did not get to witness was the actual baptizing part. In the English service they do not have a pool to baptize people in. They only baptize people in the Spanish service so I was not able to see this happen. The rest of the service was all about the preacher preaching. His sermon was not right out of the bible. He talked about real life situations that are related to what the bible talks about so I found it better to relate to what is going on in your life. It got pretty boring though when he kept on talking for around thirty to forty-five minutes. The whole service was around an hour and forty-five minutes to two hours.