My Visit At A New Church

The narrator saw it as a boring and dusty place. She observes, “ The tomatoes were always soft and the cans of Campbell soup had rusted spots. There was dust on top of the cereal boxes (Viramontes 1329).” The church was also a place the narrator didn’t feel welcome. Her family was fairly religious though the narrator herself saw no point in going to the chapel: “ I had forgotten the vastness of these places, the coolness of the marble pillars and the frozen statues with blank eyes. I was alone. I knew why I had never returned (Viramontes 1329).” The narrator felt no warmth or comfort in going to church. It was a cold empty place for her.

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.

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

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

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.

My classmate and I managed to find each other in church parking lot and made our way through the cloud of smoke and into the building. We entered a large hall filled with people of all ages. There were at least 50 people there; sitting, standing, hugging, talking and laughing. A couple of people were running a raffle in a corner. Coffee brewed in the small kitchen. I grew up catholic and this had the distinct feeling of being a church function.

For this assignment, we had to attend a meeting of a spiritual tradition that is not our own. As this assignment's due date approached, I became very anxious! I didn’t quite know where I wanted to go. In my sewing class one day my friend, Kelly Jorgensen, had asked if I had finished the assignment. I had not. “Me and Karlie Mortensen are going to the Baptist church over by Riverton Hospital this Sunday at 6:00 PM if you want to join us” she offered. I found this rather funny. The day before, as I was driving home from work, the Harvest Valley Baptist Church sign had caught my eye. I thought to myself that I should

The Catholic Church is the oldest major religion in the Western world. Littered with peace, love, and humility, along with violence, turmoil, and controversy this institution has seen, heard, led, and had influence over the majority of everything and everybody that there was in the last two millennia. This has included ordinary people, Kings, Queens, Generals, Nobleman, Royalty, and everything in between, and has endured since the beginning of the modern era, Anno Domini. They great spiritual and monetary machine created a powerful reign over the entire world’s Catholics, and remains so to this day. For the purpose of background for my visit to a Catholic Church, being Presbyterian, I did historical research before I visited. I

I was attending a chapel service and at Pittsburgh Theological seminars. I’m not sure who was ordained, because I’m still new, I know that these are my class mates, and we don’t really get in to who is ordained and who is not. So, I’m going to assume that they were all lay persons. There were about 6 people involved in the service, there were 3 musicians a 3 people that read different part of the service. It was a beautiful call and response type of service, which I thought was interesting. I want to say that the on participant is the one who runs our chapel service.

I can’t recall not being a part of New Hope Baptist Church because when I was growing up my parents attended everything and they “had us in tow”. I remember being brought to church in the winter and my parents lining us up on the seats next to the potbellied stove. We were required to take care of our “personal business” before entering because we were not allowed to walk while the services were in progress. I really have a hard time understanding why some young people today cannot sit through an entire service right now today. As children the church conferences often baffled us. While watching and listening, sometimes things got into a disagreeable mode. As children, we thought those deacons were at odds with each other, but when they

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

I decided to go to a Baptist Church here in Miami. The reason that I chose Coral Park Baptist Church was because most Baptist Churches that I called here in Miami had the service in Spanish but Coral Park Baptist had an English service as well. I went to the eleven o’clock service on Sunday. The whole church itself was pretty big. There is the main temple that has the regular service in Spanish and then there is a whole other building that has separate classrooms where the English service is held and other Sunday school type classes are held.

Ever since I was a little kid, I have been going to church. Over the years, I have felt like I have come closer and closer to God. Through God, the church has influenced me to become a better person. They put me on the right path, helping me find the light that lead me out of the darkness. God, and more specifically the church, has given me hope and strength. They molded me into a person who looks forward to the future, and what I can accomplish. It is hard to believe that I will be going off to college soon. It seems just like yesterday that I started High School. However, as scary as the real world will be, I know I’ll have my family and friends to help. I know when I begin my work as a Computer Scientist, I will have God at the helm guiding

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.

Since the day I was born my parents took my sister and me to church ever Sunday. I grew up in a loving Christian home and was encouraged at an age where I could fully understand, to purse a relationship with Jesus. I accepted Christ into my heart when I was in the second grade and was baptized in the fourth grade at age 10. Growing up I have always been super involved in Church. I have a heart for people and love serving. Since 3rd grade until now, my senior year of high school I have been on the leadership team with my youth group. I can not imagine my life without Jesus as the center. I have been pushed to step out of my comfort zone and because of that I have grown in several different ways. For example, I am an extrovert and enjoy getting new people, but never liked public speaking as I felt nervous and intimidated. By the many adult leaders, and pastors coming along side of me and encouraging me to step of on my comfort zone I now highly enjoy speaking and spreading the truth about The Lord in big groups of people. I am so thankful for the many God loving people that have come in my life and helped stretch me. Jesus is my entire life and I am nothing without him.