Catholic Church Observation

When choosing a religious service I was very limited on my choices so I was intrigued to go back to my roots and try the Catholic denomination. This denomination is the one that is most prevalent in my community and also in my social circle as well. Since I have actually been to a Catholic church as a child I thought I knew what to expect but I was shocked at how naive I was to the subject. My preconceived ideas and thoughts were that there would be a lot of getting down on your knees then back up again then saying your Hail Mary’s with not much depth to a service. Also growing up with a social group that was full of Catholics you would always hear of confession so that was something I was particularly dreading for the fact that I did not

I grew up in a Baptist Church that I attended with my family. My family was very involved with the church and so we spent a lot of time there. My brothers and I used to spend hours in that church helping out and simply running around as the little kids we were. Several years ago, we started attending a non-denominational church that met in a middle school because they had outgrown their building. The first service we went to, the pastor of the church announced his resignation. After that, a few other leaders left

In the religious project I choose to attend a church of a different domination. While I grew up Baptist and the Baptist culture are very familiar to me. the church I decide to attend was Holy Ghost Catholic Church. The reason I choose a Catholic church was because I have always been curious of their worship service. Right away, I noticed the pulpit and as in the Baptist culture this too seemed to be sacred. As only the priest and his helpers were allowed in it. The next thing that stood out to me was the church pews. That I thought all had foot rest. I soon realized that it was for their knees for praying. My experience was very eye opening as I went there not knowing what to expect. I didn’t find the music or choir selection as fun or energetic as in the Baptist

I must admit their style of worship is entirely different from what I am accustom to in worship service. Upon arriving at the church and entering into the Sanctuary, I was greeted by ushers at each entrance of the Church. Although, to my surprise was an enormous painting of Jesus that covered the entire wall behind the pulpit (Horne, 1983). The painting of Jesus revealed him with his hands stretched out with nail prints in the palm of his hands reaching out to you as you walked in the church (Horne, 1983). The seating of the pulpit was a huge chair in the center of the pulpit that sat up high for the Pastor, with chairs to the right and left of him for his ministers. Further, I notice as the members entered the Sanctuary one by one that they went to the altar and knelt down and prayed (Horne, 1983).

The Catholics and Protestants were once together, therefore they are very similar but they do have a few differences. The Protestants believed that church services and the bible should be taught in a way that is legible to their people. Unlike the Protestants, the Catholics believe that it should be taught in its original form, even if they cannot understand the language. Church services with the Catholics remained in Latin, as it has in the last 1000 years (Alchin 2). The Catholics believed that their priest were special people. They believed that without their priest they could not connect with God. In a Catholic church the priest holds all of the power, not only was it impossible to

On Friday, March 11, I attended a Sabbath evening service at the Congregation Beth Shalom Synagogue in Naperville. Being raised and only attending the Roman Catholic Church, I was nervous about attending a service for a faith to which I did not belong and which was not even part of my heritage. However, much to my surprise what I found instead was a religious ceremony with similar origins but different beliefs. A group of Jewish people who welcomed visitors with open arms regardless of their religious faith. A community of Jews who volunteered their time an hour prior to the service so they could educated, teach and answer any of my questions I might have about the Judaism religion. I was even invited for refreshments after the service to meet the congregation. Even though, I learned Judaism and Catholicism are very different religions with different traditions, customs, beliefs and ceremonies, I also observed they both share many similarities.

Growing up my siblings and I attended a catholic school. There we had our first communion; my brother had become an altar boy. My parents’ themselves did not go to church with the exception of maybe Easter, because they worked. When we moved to Georgia, my parents’ converted to Baptist. They had found a Haitian Baptist church, and we attended regularly. My father wanted us to really be commit to the Baptist belief not only to be close to grow closer to God, but because it would also bring us closer to Haitian culture. My father encouraged us to get baptized my mother and sisters’ have, but I have not. I not sure that want to for some

I attended the Body of Christ (BOC) church service in Oakland Park, Florida run by people from the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. The service was similar in many ways to traditional interdenominational or non-denominational church services. The service started at 10:30 am and was competed by 12:00 noon. What was particularly nice was after the service all attendees were invited to attend pot luck lunch that is provided every week. The service started promptly at 10:30 am. Several songs of contemporary music were played and sang by the worship team and congregation. They also sang two songs that were from the old very traditional church worship at the end one was the Old Rugged Cross and the other Amazing Grace. I was raised Catholic and have attended many different denominations throughout my lifetime. I have for the past 10 years attended an Evangelical Presbyterian

There is an interplay between distinctive beliefs of a religious traditions which forms the basis of the Catholics Church’s vision of an ideal society. The distinctive belief of the Catholic faith states that their ideal vision for society is based on: Trinitarian love by having creating, redemptive and sanctifying relationship. Adherents are also call to follow in the footsteps of Christ by being “alter-Christ” or Christ like. In the actions of the Brigidine asylum seekers project they seek to implement their vision of an ideal society and social justice, through practical and legal support of the displaced.

The religion I decided to research is the Roman Catholic Church, because it is one that I’ve always wanted to familiarize myself with more because many of my friends are Catholics and I was raised in a Christian family which I’ve heard is very similar to Catholicism. I have been to church with friends in the past before, but have never really taken the time to research and study the history behind this religion.

Many rituals within Roman Catholicism relate to the triune god, which includes Christ the son, such as window lights or lit candles in windows. These candles are lit and placed in the windows of Roman Catholics to light the way of Mary and Joseph during their journey to Bethlehem where Jesus will be birthed (Catholic Customs & Traditions a popular guide). The most important ritual within the Roman Catholic Church is mass; it is the most important rite because it is the Lord’s Supper. The mass includes four individual parts: introductory rites, liturgy of the word, liturgy of the Eucharist, and concluding rites, these four parts are crucial to the Mass and to the Roman Catholic followers.

I chose to go a Catholic church because I have never been to one, I went to a Lutheran church as a child and a Pentecostal church as an adult. My mother – in – law is catholic so I was curious about this form of Christianity and what the differences would be between Catholics and other Christian denominations. I was expecting there to be a huge difference, my previous mind set was that Catholics were disciplined and close- minded, that they dressed up when going to church. When I was, younger and went to a Lutheran church it was this way, there was no loud Christian music, everyone wore a suit and no one raised their hands in worship, it was a small church and my siblings and I were the only children. There was a lady who always gave us Vitamin

For my second analysis, I went to a church in my hometown of Paris, Texas called Freedom Church. This church is a new non-denominational church that is trying to reach to the “de-churched and unchurched” as their tag line says. They have only been operational now for less than a year, so they are still trying to get new people to join their church. For this reason, this past Friday they put on a huge Easter event for kids and adults that had games, dinner, and a worship service. I saw and experienced some aspects of what non-denominational believe, and the freedom this church let people have during worship. There were also many things that happened throughout the service that I noticed that we talked about in class that I found they were

The history of Congregational churches started in sixteenth-seventeenth-centuries in England. According to the book “history of the east congregational church.” The church was founded by a man named Robert Browne. Robert Browne, was considered a crazy person but most of the Congregational ideas came from him. Then the Separatists advanced Browne’s ideas and his beliefs. The Congregationalist church was part of a large and diverse group that tried to reform the Church of England. After King Henry VIII left with the Roman Catholic Church. The roman Catholic Church, kept the forms of Catholicism like the celebration of the Mass, but under the authority of the English king rather than the Pope. The “Congregational way” which the

Christianity today is one of the dominant religions in the world. Christianity has a variety of beliefs, exercises and forms, despite the many denominations all have one common belief, which is faith in Jesus Christ and that He is our Lord and Savior. I am a strong believer in God and Jesus Christ. I am of the Christian religion and the church I attend in The Bahamas is a non-denominational one. My choice for this class site visit was to attend St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church. Father Maximilian Kolbe is honored because his faith gave him the dignity to live and die knowing that, despite whatever horrendous condition he experienced; they believe God is always with them. Though large and