St. Jerome Catholic Church

“We are a church transformed by grace, connected through relationships and committed to service” is their mission statement and as is everything down in Texas, they are big! They have a large campus with several buildings surrounding the main sanctuary and a visitors center that can be accessed with one of their many golf carts. I must say, as someone who works with youth, I was impressed as to their commitment to a separate building for kids, especially those in middle school and high school. At a time when autonomy is so important for a young person, (and budgets are limited), having their own space is quite impressive.

The edifice in itself was rather imposing. It was a large construction similar to European cathedrals. From the point of view of the religious feeling, I considered it to be more appropriate than catholic churches that resemble more to museums and are extraordinary in their art. Usually in catholic churches the edifice is impressive in its shape and construction and the first thought is to associate it to a pierce of art rather than a place of prayer. By comparison, this Orthodox Church was not that lavishing in details or artistic nature and the outside paintings set a religious feeling as I entered. A cemetery or a place for holy burials such as the former priests that served at the Church surrounded this church. This is not mandatory to happen but most of the times, Orthodox churches have in the vicinity the cemetery.

Crap, did I get the days wrong, I really needed to get this assignment done! There were probably 30 or more people standing outside in the gloom of the church hall entrance smoking and talking. I quickly sent a text to my classmate who I was supposed to meet, “Are you here? Are we in the right place?” It had never dawned on me that there would be more than 10 or 15 people in attendance.

This organ was installed in the original All Saints’ Church in 1864 and transferred to the present church in 1869. Built by Thomas Jennings of London, it originally comprised a single manual and pedals, although the addition of a Swell manual was envisaged from the outset. The instrument was enlarged to two manuals by William Davidson of Sydney in 1875, at which time it was moved to the south-east corner of the church.

St. Timothy’s, like St. Christopher’s, was an aging and dwindling numerically parish that celebrated the Eucharist only bi-weekly and worshiped in Elizabethan English once a month. Many of the elderly parishioners had met me before because of my many previous visits to the parish, at the request of Reverend Fran, to introduce new music. They genuinely liked the new hymns I had taught them, but on Sunday mornings they were still stubbornly clinging to the same old Elizabethan metrical styles they had been singing for decades to pipe organ accompaniment.

For as long as I can remember, St. Johns Lutheran Church has been like a second home. It is the church where I was baptized (for a second time), took first communion and affirmed my faith through confirmation. I belonged at St. Johns. I was a member of St. Johns.

The outside of the church is very humble in appearance. It doesn’t look like a place of worship at all from the outside, but the statue of Shinran Shonin in the front makes the building seem particularly important as you pass by. As we ascended the stairs, there was a small garden of flowers surrounding the Shinran Statue, which survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. There was a hand painted sign that said “Autumn Festival” hanging from the front fence. The foundation of the church is slightly elevated as well.

The Ascension Catholic Church is located in 2950 North Harbor City Blvd Melbourne Florida. The close proximity of the church from my home enabled me make a visit to the church last Sunday for the morning mass at 9.30 am. My neighbor who is a member of the church had earlier invited me to visit the church with him on Wednesday evening. He further informed me of the church's dressing code and even suggested that I accompany him to the church. However, since I wanted to get more exposure I declined this offer. Instead, we resolved to attend the Sunday service since it had higher attendance from the congregation (Ascension Catholic Community1).

Those singing are colloquially referred to as monks, though such nomenclature is incorrect; they are simply volunteers. However, the vernacular reflects the ancient mysticism of the liturgical practice presently occurring. The choir is entirely acoustic yet the sounds produced require intentional listening. They sing or chant passages of scripture, using their voices to create imagery through the rising, lowering, and elongation of words. The interpretation of the text is implicit as contrasted with the explicit interpretation one might encounter during a church service of denomination not liturgically based. As the service progressed, a sense of stillness emerged. Visitors settled into comfortable positions; heads fixed forward had now bowed and interlocked hands had now opened in a display of reception. Several visitors remained in such positions after the service ended despite the rustling of those

They had purple clothes with white cross on each side of the aisle as well as the altar. I was surprised that I did not see any candles or sculptures during the communion. The priest did all the readings on the powerpoint instead of the scripture. Because the church was much smaller than Catholic churches, the music was more effective and shocking, though they did not have any pianos or guitars. I found the choir later on the second floor. There was a lot of singing throughout the service, and usually people sang with the choir. During the congregation, I found that most people were in a group of much older age, and they were all friendly and faithful. The sermon was similar to the Catholic ones, for the priest talked about grace, sins, and resurrection. However, it seemed that they did not believe the power of confession. Communion was offered afterwards, and they were willing to let visitors receive blessings. Food and coffee was even provided after the service, and we had a great time chatting with people

The Metropolitan Community Church located in New York area is founded in 1971. At a first glance, with the limited sight I have, I thought the outside seemed to look like a nursery school with different colors and a flag hanging by the door. However, once someone pay more attention, the building was actually painted with Christian symbols using rainbow color paints, symbolizing gay pride. As soon as you entered the door, on your left was a narrow wooden stairway. On the first level, on the right was an entrance, where they conduct the ceremony. By the door, there were ushers waiting and greeting everyone with a smile, shacking everyone's hands and handing out the program for the month of November until the first week of December.

Service was on a Sunday at 9:00, much like many other churches in town. It is a small church with a modern look. Upon entering there are friendly people gathered in a small space off to the right chatting and drinking fairtrade coffee. Everyone was very courteous and took the opportunity to say good morning and introduce themselves.

Soon after I had arrived at St. Timothy’s, Reverend Fran introduced me to the incumbent choir leader, Barb Knotts, and her husband Frank who was a Parish Councilor. I was hoping Barb would help me usher the choir through the upcoming reforms; however, both she and Frank were about to go on a two month vacation at their lakeside cottage. Until she returned home I had to work alone.

The neighborhood of which the church is located is classic Central Florida with what appears to be higher middle class at one address and immediately next door, what would appear to be someone under more economic oppressive circumstances. The senior pastor has said he wants the neighborhood to be involved in the church.

     Another part of the service that I did not get to witness was the actual baptizing part. In the English service they do not have a pool to baptize people in. They only baptize people in the Spanish service so I was not able to see this happen. The rest of the service was all about the preacher preaching. His sermon was not right out of the bible. He talked about real life situations that are related to what the bible talks about so I found it better to relate to what is going on in your life. It got pretty boring though when he kept on talking for around thirty to forty-five minutes. The whole service was around an hour and forty-five minutes to two hours.