Brooklyn Tabernacle Church Experience

My first experience at Bridgetown church was very long overdue and very interesting. Most all of my friends and family all have been inviting me to Bridgetown specifically because they all really enjoy a specific pastor there that speaks on Sunday services. I never saw the need to go, mainly because of my night shifts are scheduled so oddly I was afraid of falling asleep at a religious sermon that I was not interested in embarrassing myself at and also not wanting to go out of my way to attend something that I was not particularly interested in. Bluntly writing I did not want to waste my time to go to something I wasn’t very excited about, especially when I do not know what to expect. This assignment did give the opportunity a bigger reason and I am glad to have been able to make such an insightful visit that I may not mind trying again in the near future.

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.

On Monday, I went to the local Crossroads Baptist Church, located at 850 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, Leesburg, VA. This was my first time experience as I am Hindu and my parents never exposed me to any churches. Dr. Kenneth K. Baldwin was the pastor at the time I went. Luckily, I got the chance to speak with him after the service. After our brief conclusion, I realized that he had a great vision for his church and is leading it to success through his passion. I sensed his passion for preaching and religious beliefs as they were evident during the service. Despite this being my first visit to a church, I learned a lot of valuable things about churches and Christianity.

The people there were very welcoming and kind. The shook every single person hand and greeted them genially when they walked in. As I sat down, there was a countdown till when it begins. There were seats all around and in the center they had a stage, where there were people preparing to sing. They began their ceremony exactly at 8:30 with singing 3 songs. When we sang, everyone stood up for respect. Followed by that, the pastor recited a prayer with everyone to make this week better than the last. He welcomed everyone, including the people who are new, and told them more about what they do at Kennedy Road Tabernacle Church. The priest then talked about the Provision of Vision from the bible. There was a sheet that was handed out so as you listen you fill in the blanks. ( I attached the sheet I completed) I thought this was very convenient because it makes you pay attention and have something to do other than sitting down. He was reading about the Provision of the Vision and relating it to financial difficulties and how God is always there for you. After, I talked to one priest to get a better background of Christianity. I related what he said to the reading of ‘Christianity’ we did earlier in September. When he spoke to me, he said that they believe in one god, but that includes the father, son, holy spirit, He said Jesus died for us on a cross for the sins of the

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

In my opinion, that is the reason why we listened to this piece of music. To try and be exposed to a work that has a large supply of instruments and a choir at the same time. From listening to it, they did a very good job of incorporating the choir with the music. The choir was also very synchronized as well. They did not get too high or too low as a group. One of the differences with this piece of music is they incorporate different types of music and the choir sings from the very beginning. One thing that was very enjoyable was how strong and powerful the choir sang at the end of the piece. Once, again, the most difficult thing about listening to this piece was the lack of understanding any of the

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.

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 planned to arrive earlier than the service started in order to make a more accurate observation. I figured that would be a good plan because I was so nervous about the assignment and being able to recall all of the requirements. I was also nervous when it came to an outfit because I wasn’t sure what the majority of the members would wear to their Sunday service. I wanted to look respectable but I also didn’t want to look out of place at the same time. As I pulled into the parking lot, I began to observe the vehicles and the people exiting them. I noticed that more than half of the vehicles were sedans and the other half mostly being minivans and larger sized SUV’s. As I was observing the people as well, I noticed the age span of the members attending. I saw children as young as newborns and adults who appeared to be in their late 70s. I noticed that more than half, I would say about 60%, of the members attending appeared to be older than the age of 40. As I continued observing, I felt more comfortable with my outfit decision. I wasn’t overdressed but I wasn’t underdressed either, I felt comfortable. I

I attended Kayla Schwartz jazz vocal performance in University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Of the bat, I thought this performance would be great because although it was in a small classroom a lot of audience attended, to the point where some audience members had to stand since all the seats were taken.

The theme of the mass band concert was “The Voyage.” Our voyage began with Psalm 117. I really enjoyed the way we started the concert off so quickly with this song, as it made the concert seem more professional in a way. Overall I think we performed this song quite well. Although I didn’t think much of this piece before mass band, I thought it sounded pretty good with the entire

The two songs that made the grates impression were "there is nothin' like a dame" sung by the singing cardsman and "light of a clear blue morning" sung by the collegiate chorale. They were not the traditional chorale songs I was expecting to hear. The first song stuck out because of the performance itself. The men made it entertaining as explained earlier. In contrast, the second song had a high clear sound that contrasted with the emotion the soloist managed to evoke. The words of the song produced a sorrowful mood but the crispness of the soloist’s voice brought the feeling of hope to the

When the service started it began with prayer, during the service there were moments of prayer, and the service ended with prayer. Something that I found very entertaining was the form of worship that they used which was singing. They sang a lot of different songs that worshiped God. You could tell who went to church a lot because they knew all the songs by heart. For those like me that didn’t know the songs, the words were projected on to the wall so you could sing along with everyone else. There was also a live band that played the music to sing to. This part of the service was really entertaining to me and I really enjoyed it.

The second vocal ensemble of the night started out with a song which included a twelve bar blues, called “ I use to know you”. This performance consisted of the most combinations of solos of the night as well as using an improvising style. The entire band started all together which led to a Trumpet solo. Then Jose on the Sax did his solo followed by the pianist comping. Then the choir along with the band joined together to lead to a female solo which was particularly interesting since she was scatting. The second performance of this ensemble was “Spring can really hang you up the most” which consisted of 3/4 time and 4/4 time. This started with a female solo vocalist then a male one. The band as a whole played together and ended with a male solo scatting. The third and shortest performance of the night was a vocal acapella piece, “Love walked in” which was short and sweet. The fourth performance of the night was a Richmond Rogers piece. This had a rhythmic swing/salsa feel from the “Lady is a tramp”. This started with the rhythm section, with the male vocalist and horns. Then the female vocalist from the choir joined and concluded this piece. The fifth performance for the group was a sequel to voice stand an acapella piece by Greg Jaspers. This song started with the choir using their voices as the instruments altogether. The final performance of the night was one of

One of the things that initially catch me off guard when talking to the people in the office- if you can even call it that- was the attire of not only the staff, but the people attending the service. Most people were in jeans! This to me was crazy because the way I grew up I had to dress my best for church. The pastors were dressed nicer than most, wearing a button downs and khaki pants, but that is to be expected.