Liturgy Experience Paper

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

When I visited my first Jewish synagogue, I expected it to be very different. My previous experience with religious ceremonies was limited to a few visits to Baptist churches. The most surprising thing for me at this one was, oddly enough, its similarity to Christian services and rituals. I went into the religious visit expecting an enormous difference in the customs and perhaps even in the attitudes of the people attending the service. What I found instead was a religious ceremony very reminiscent of the Christian ones I’ve been to before.

Some words that would be helpful to know as these churches are being described, which will be quoted

Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also known as the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Resurrection (Orthodox Christians). Originally identified as being outside the settlement of Calvary, it is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel and is considered one of the holiest sites in the world, as well as being a central destination for Christian pilgrims. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was originally built by the Roman Emperor Constantine (272-337) in 330 CE upon the site of a Roman temple. It has since been controlled by Arab rulers, reclaimed by Christian crusaders, repeatedly ruined by fires and conquests, and long been subject to regional religious and political tensions. The Holy Sepulchre is a central Church in

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

There were two striking aspects of the service that stood out in my mind. The first was the amount of standing. I had heard that traditionally Orthodox services do not permit sitting at all. Only some of the

The three of us arrived at the church about 30 minutes before the service started. I noticed as I waited for everything to start that this church had a phenomenally diverse range of attendees. There was your typical grandmother with her

Perhaps it was because I’m Catholic and not Pentecostal. Everyone in the sanctuary was moving around and socializing. Members of the church walked to the front of the altar and praised by the means of the Holy Spirit. It was a lot the different than my church but it was really a great experience. The members of the church raise their hands, kneel to god, and speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues simply means speaking to God in a way that they don’t understand themselves because the Holy Spirit fills their body. Another thing that was different about this church was the choir. Their choir was amazing and every selection they sung made me feel good inside. I got chills from some of the notes they hit. This church was very prompt and orderly. It started with a prayer from one of the Deacons of the church. The deacon openly asked the congregation for prayer requests and testimonies. One young lady gave a testimony about how she wanted to thank God for letting her see another day and healing her from cancer. It was also a special service honoring the Olive Branch Police Department. I’ve never seen anything like that during a church service, it was really amazing and touching. Another thing they did that was uncommon to me was an altar call. Towards the end of the service Elder Shannon called for an altar call. Altar call is when the members of the church go up to the altar for prayer.

There were beautiful stained glass windows. They also had paintings on the wall for organs they kind of look like kanu. I noticed in the service that there was a lot of singing .The

Starting with the communion, I was surprised when the service had ended yet the bread and wine had not been a part of this particular service. I started to think that it was simply just one of those masses that didn’t have it. When I asked my friend, James, about the fact that no communion was given, he told me that it is not given at every service. This was a big difference for me because, as a Catholic, almost every mass that I attend has the sacrament of communion; it is only on rare occasions that we do not receive the Eucharist. For Baptists, however, it is the exact opposite. James told me that it is rare to receive the bread and wine and that they

For this observation I went with my aunt and her sister in law who assist to church named Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church in East Los Angeles, It is a Catholic church, the service was in the morning at 9:00 am to 10 am.

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.

They would put the kneeling board down and do a prayer. Three girls, dressed in white, came out and lite some candles. The service didn’t begin until everyone was in their pews and then came silence before anything else happened. After a while of silence, we got up and sang a hymn. The priest, with the three girls in white, walked down the center aisle as we sang. He then prayed a prayer from a book and one of the students came up to the podium and said the first reading. The student told us what we had to recite back to him throughout the reading. There were about three different readings at different times also each one had a different phrase we had to recite back. The priest read from Luke 6:42 King James Version, which stated “Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.” The priest kissed the Bible at the end of the reading. We sang a few hymns and sat down. He stepped off the stage onto the ground and talked about a saint you saved many slaves lives by spreading the love of Jesus. He tried to connect the scripture to the story, but it was semi difficult to understand how they connect. We then kneeled and the priest read another prayer to us. Multiple times throughout the service we would sing a hymn, sit down and listened to readings or the priest, lastly we would kneel and pray. They prepared communion at the front on the stage. Everyone waited in line to get bread to eat in honor of Jesus death. To be able to take communion there were step to be taken also being a part of the catholic church. After communion was taken we sang a hymn and said the Lord’s prayer. It was hard

During elementary school I decided I wanted to move in with my father who did attend church religiously every Sunday morning. Catholic mass was awful and difficult to understand. My father put my brothers and I through communion and made us participate in church bible study to further understand the religion. As I got older my views on Catholicism had gotten worse, I started hating going to church. When the nuns called my age group to have children’s church my father forced me to go, they took us to a room that had no windows and was always cold. The nuns made us read the old testament in the King James Bible version and I always had a hard time reading and understanding it because of the way it was written. This experience made me hate and

The nature of the worship facility consisted of communion and prayers of forgiveness and faith.