Catholic Church Observation Papers

To begin, I was nervous about attending a service for a faith to which I did not belong and which was not even part of

For this comparison of building, I will focus on my church after I moved to New Jersey, as there are many similarities between both the religious buildings. What was most interesting to me was the temple had an industrial feel to it, and if it were not for the sign out front, I would have mistaken Temple Israel as a commercial building. When I entered the sanctuary, where the main religious ceremony takes place, the first thing I did was put on a yarmulke, small Jewish hat worn mostly by men but I looked women could wear them if that already are not wearing a hat of some kind. As the religious ritual began, the Rabbi walked up the alter steps, approached the podium, and began the Morning Prayer. This is very different from the Roman Catholic Church where the approach to the alter is more ceremonial, with a hymn being sung while the presit carries the Bible down the aisle, usually accompanied by an altar boy carrying a cross. The readings continue with a practitioner standing behind a large podium, where the Torah would eventually be placed, reading various Psalms from various passages referred to as the Mishna, Minyan, Yarsit Kotage, and Posit Mar. The first reading of the psalms ended with the Prayer for Peace, which asks God for world peace. This is similar to what I was used to attending Church; however, the ritual was far shorter, with the Priest reading from two sections of the Bible, as opposed to multiple passages. Another person walks up to the podium of the Torah, which I learned is also known as the bimah, and precedes to read additional readings, did not hear them being referred to as psalms. This process goes on for approximately twenty minutes, with various people going

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

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.

In my experience at first progressive Baptist Church I was very much out of my comfort zone because not only did I not feel as welcomed but it was a little awkward because of all the looks I was receiving. I felt I was not dressed as they were and felt as if I didn't fit in and right away I just didn't feel appropriate with my attire. While I was there I actually had people wanting to shake hands and asking me questions about me coming and there was one man who just stared at me and so it was uncomfortable and didn't know how to react. While I was there I started to notice that there is a little difference from the church I go to and the music was way different as well, everyone will talk back with amen or thank you Jesus. The difference

For the house of worship visit I went to Congregation Etz Chaim which is a Reformed Jewish synagogue. I have been though many different Christian church so going to a synagogue is a different experience than what I have grown up with. This should an interesting experience. For this paper I will describe my visit and go over things I thought were important, interesting or things that I couldn’t get out of my mind. When I first stepped into the building it didn’t look like what I expected it to look like. I thought the synagogue would be plain and nothing in there, but I was wrong. The synagogue looked somewhat plain, but I could tell this plainness was for prayer and services. The synagogue didn’t have any windows or elaborate decorations like a Catholic church would have, but if you looked up, there was window or whole in the middle which you could see the clouds through. When I sat down I saw there was a small piano and a closet in the back where they put the Torah and other important things. I did see some older folks that were serious about the service compared to some of the younger generation that were just talking amongst themselves. The people there were very friendly and welcoming as I sat and observed service.

Going to a church that is not of your current denomination or faith is an uncommon thing to do. We are accustomed to staying within the group of people that have common beliefs, especially in regards to religion. Therefore, attending a different church can be uncomfortable for some. Personally, I had the irrational fear of being rejected by church goers of a Southern Baptist church for worshiping the same God in a different manner. Despite my initial concern of being left out or unacknowledged at the sermon, Panther Creek Baptist Church was humble, welcoming, and open to talk about the regular attendants.

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 synagogue was an extremely modern looking building, and in my opinion looked like most churches that I have been to and am more familiar with. Pulling into the parking lot, there were newer vehicles and luxury vehicles, which made me believe most of the members were of a middle to high socioeconomic class. There was

Throughout the world, there are billions of people that profess belief in a religion that most adequately answers the questions that most people ask regarding the origination of life to the self-purpose. Furthermore, within society their holds many people that believe in different religions that can cause for people to become biased and ethnocentric when evaluating certain aspects of a different religion. Due to this task of delving into research of a religion outside of your own, I chose to further my understanding through observing a service at an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue. In being that I am a Christian, I will be observing from a perspective in which I am informed about some of the scripture, but puzzled when it comes to many of the

The Synagogue is located around a historic area on St. Charles Street. The synagogue is located across from homes and a street car. When you look at the temple you can tell that the architecture might have been influencing from the time it was built in. The temple is big and beautiful. From the outside of the temple, you can see the dome that has these diamond designs on the top. Also, in the front of the building on each corner of the buildings, they have the Star of David symbols. When walking up the stairs to the temple, you see these three brown oak doors and two

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Next, going to a baptist church had some similarities and difference compared to going to a synagogue. The similarities were that they are both places where people in the community come together to pray and worship God. Another similarity is that there are parts of the service where there are readings from either the torah or bible that are long and boring. There are also parts of the service where there is standing and singing. Furthermore, there’s also the similarity of there being one person who leads the service, in a synagogue its a rabbi, and in church it’s a pastor. The rabbi or pastor speak and the community listens or participates when asked. A final similarity that I noticed is that at both synagogues, and African American baptist churches the services discuss topics that are culturally significant.