River Valley Christian Observation

My first reaction was shock, because it was so vast and filled with beauty, something which I have never experienced before. Even with the quantity of people on that day I still felt quite small in a huge church. I like many others, did not go for religious purposes but to experience and see what was laid out in front of us. I do wish I came by myself because I constantly felt as if I did not take in what I was experiencing. If I was given more information about what the church’s history and background was, I would have felt much more comfortable and calm. One thing I did notice was the amount of marketing for the church. They had turned something so holy and made money out of pamphlets and miniature Saint Joseph and to light a candle you would have to purchase one. They sold plants and books and even snacks and drinks. It felt degraded to the actual purpose of the Oratory. I am pleased that I went, and would like to experience more church’s such as this one later in the

The choir only sang five songs, however, oddly enough their performance lasted almost forty-five minutes. In all of the songs but one, there was an abundance of repetition. I have not heard the majority of the songs they sang before, so I am unaware if this is how the songs are written or if this is simply how the Grammy award-winning choir chose to perform them, but they would sing one verse, which would flow into the bridge, and once they started the chorus they would sing it repeatedly. This, however, I found to be a great idea, seeing that all of the churchgoers were singing, dancing, and clapping along

Although the general song structure was the same, the songs themselves were played in a much more reflective way and some had a bigger rock and performance feel to them. There was a general performance feel around the music, and a lot of those in the congregation seemed to get quite into it. When interviewing members, they all talked very highly of the music at the church and seemed to agree that it had very big influence on their perception of the church service. While at the smaller churches there was an agreement that while the music can be important it was by no means the most important part of the

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 me at my church I have my side and few aisles that I mainly stick to every Sunday, so when we went two rows from the stage I was a little out of my element. As we walked in the lights were dim and the first thing you see is this huge beautiful painting of Jesus. Then you see the monitors on each side of the stage and then the band starts to welcome us. One thing about seating that I thought was different was they had ushers and ropes closing sections off. All the rows in the front had to be filled before the next section was to be opened. Great way to make sure you have everyone close to the front.

As the lights rose I could automatically hear a four four beat with accents of one , two and three as the drums where struck with a intense meaning as the bass came in I could fell it straight to the chest as the base guitar was strummed. As these two sounds joined together it gave a sense of a grand entrance or a grand presentation. The Procession was the strongest as it always in the church setting and the Piano as usual played a main part because it is the base of all instruments. As the singers approached the stage singing the opening song you could here the difference in styles in their voices but, there harmonies where so tight and together their strong differences made them a stronger ensemble. Together was just breathe taking, they

I expected to sit around and listen to someone go on about an obscure passage from the Torah and connect it to modern life. One thing that I did fear was that I might have some great faux pas mid-way through the service. I also did not want the service to be long and drawn out.

Please turn on your flashers. You are our VIP”. I had no idea what this meant so I did what they asked and turned on my lights. After passing the red signs, I continued to drive and came across three gentlemen waving their hands with a huge smile and stretched out arms directing me into a parking spot. As a first time guest and their “VIP”, I was able to park as close to the church entrance as possible which was nice. Once I got my belongings together and stepped out of the car, an Elevation volunteer came towards my direction with a smile so big that I could not help but to smile back. After saying “Good Morning” the nice lady handed me a brochure with a huge sign reading “VIP”. She then directed me into the church and said “enjoy the Elevation experience”. I was anxious and excited to see what was to

The first choir sounded nice their stage presence was really good. The second choir sounded rushed like they wanted it to be done and their stage appearance was Ok they didn’t really dress up for it.. They both blended very nicely.

For my site visit I went to St Thomas Aquinas Church, I went to the 7:30am service which is typically the least busy of their three Sunday services. I arrived around 7:25 and followed the cars in front of me who I assumed were also going to church into the back parking lot which looked pretty full for an early service. I then followed the people in to the main building. They also had 2 other buildings, one seemed like it was for church school and the other maybe for events. On my way into the church there was an older man also headed in wearing Buffalo Bills shorts and shirt which told me that the dress code was not very strict. I followed him into the church and the people standing in the doors were very nice and welcomed me. When he walked

On Mar 21, Fargo church held their Sunday service and meditated on Jesus' prayer at Gethsemane. The church members were strengthend through the message.

The difference in the sound of the choir between the back of the auditorium and on stage is night and day. The stage made their balance so much better, with the bass and tenor voices resonating better through the audience. I also noticed how much stronger the intonation of the choir was when they were closer to the piano accompaniment. The different voices in the choir also have strong blend individually. Rather than it sounding like I am listening to 11 sopranos as indicated on the program, it sounds like I am listening to just a few because of how well those 11 singers blended together. You can tell there is a lot of emphasis on the performance being a group effort rather than a bunch of individual efforts.

The service was easy to follow. There was no need for a church bulletin because they had a projector screen displaying what was going on. I’ve always been to a church that had Bibles in the pews but Bibles were nowhere to be found. I found this interesting. I do not think it is a good idea to assume that everyone who walks into your sanctuary is going to have a Bible or even what the Bible is. Having these items readily available is important for those people who walk through your doors lost and not know where to go.

Saturday, November 27 I attended Braintree SDA Church, and it was quite different from what I am used to. Those leading the service and those participating in it have more interaction than I am used to. When it came to worship there was a designated book in the pews and a list of hymns in the program for you to follow along. I was not used to retaining the music like that. Usually, the worship team will call it out and one will see it on the monitors. The lyrics will be shown on the

I entered into the worship service, unaware of what to expect. I was not familiar with this church, it was a non-denominational church, but the pastor had his roots in the A.M.E. Zion Church and branched out to establish his own church. I walked into the sanctuary prepared to participate in the Sunday School. I found a seat and readied myself to engage in some meaningful discussion. After sitting for several minutes, I asked one of the gentlemen who was standing at the front of the church if they had already started and where was the lesson coming from. He looked at his watch and indicated that he didn’t know if we had time for Sunday School. A puzzled look came over my face and I couldn’t help but express my confusion as I looked at