The Church Of Worship Associated With Their Religion

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

I chose to do my religious ethnographic study at my home church, Tabernacle Baptist Church in Youngstown, Ohio on Sunday, May 8, 2016. Tabernacle is an 112-year-old historic Black Baptist church located on the lower Northside of Youngstown surrounded by a mixed income housing development, homeless shelter, Youngstown State University, and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. I would say the average age of a Tabernacle member is 55 years old. About 70% of the members at this church are “middle-class” families. Until about five years ago, its membership was almost exclusively middle class. There has seen an influx of membership in working class individuals and students since the arrival of Tabernacle’s young, vibrant pastor, Rev. Christopher McKee, Jr., three years ago. The church is attentive to the needs of this demographic but remains true to its historic Black Baptist church roots. The church previously struggled with this conundrum until it came to the reality that an exclusivist mindset around worship is detrimental to the body of Christ when it did not have a pastor for over three years. The church was dying because no one was welcome to it and it did not have a leader. Though it was difficult, this reassessment was beneficial in making Tabernacle more relevant and welcoming to the community it is blessed to serve.

Practicing the presence is ‘to develop a continual openness and awareness of Christ’s presence living in oneself’. It involves turning your mind to a Christward direction, constantly being thankful and doing everything for God. This reflective essay will cover numerous aspects of the spiritual discipline of practicing the presence, including my original understanding, a significant Christian historical figure, and denomination comparison. Furthermore, different personal experiences of practising the presence, specifically individual, group and corporate, as well as a reflection on my original ideas and closing with ways to encourage practising the presence in ones daily Christian walk.

The beginning of church is said to have risen from the resurrection of Jesus. In fact after the Pentecost, the disciples were celebrating the blessing given to Moses at Mount Sinai in which he experienced the presence of God. After this experience, the disciples were believed to be bold, understanding and Courageous. These characteristics till this day are still celebrated on Pentecost Sunday and are used for the sacrament of Confirmation, which is receiving the responsibility of a Christian and accepting the Holy Spirit. Church has been the backbone of people's faith. It has given them a comforting home to pray and be one with God. Today, however, more people are practicing faith outside the church. The majority of followers believe in God and life after death, however, many have lack of interest in the church. Church must be looked as a community of disciples. The book uses a suggestion from a Roman Catholic theologian Avery Dulles. He suggests, "that most appropriate image of the church for our times is the church as a community of disciples"(pp. 157). I totally agree with his suggestion. In order for Christians to find fulfillment in ones faith, one must help others understand their faith. We need to be grounded in grace; by being a Christian community your focus on believing is responding freely to a personal call and

On Monday, I went to the local Crossroads Baptist Church, located at 850 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, Leesburg, VA. This was my first time experience as I am Hindu and my parents never exposed me to any churches. Dr. Kenneth K. Baldwin was the pastor at the time I went. Luckily, I got the chance to speak with him after the service. After our brief conclusion, I realized that he had a great vision for his church and is leading it to success through his passion. I sensed his passion for preaching and religious beliefs as they were evident during the service. Despite this being my first visit to a church, I learned a lot of valuable things about churches and Christianity.

In the Introduction section of the book, The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Israel Galindo states that a congregation is a “corporate relationship organization” (3) and is not an organization. He points out that the hidden life of a congregation would depict the “nature” of a congregation. This further identifies the relationships and faith of the congregation. According to him, the universal principles are followed by the congregations so that “systemic relationships” can work. The leaders learn the roles that they have within the people who are the congregation. The journal will focus on Dr. Fowler’s question “what is the purpose of this gathering we call the church?”

Chances are if you grew up in the south, then you most likely have been to a church service before. I remember as a kid getting the wakeup call every Sunday morning from my mom, “Get up and get dressed for church!” Even if I did not feel like going, she would drag me out of bed and make me go. Anne Lamott writes about the same thing in her essay “Why I Make Sam Go to Church.” Lamott wrote “Why I Make Sam Go to Church” in 1999 as part of a collection of autobiographical essays in a book called Traveling Mercies. My main reaction to this work was a positive one. I thought the essay was eye opening in a sense and it shows that everyone needs guidance and help from others sometimes.

2012. p. 306). When people attend church, they have their fellow church members; they can talk with about their problems. The church members can support each other through whatever trauma they may be experiencing.

For instance, Joe and his family try to attend church on a regular basis. They usually go every Tuesday for confession, and every Saturday and Sunday for mass. They enjoy going to St. Bernard’s Christian Church. The church is approximately fifteen minutes from where they live. Joe’s Aunt Maddy loved taking the family to church for spiritual growth and guidance, to worship God, and it’s also a family tradition.

Dulles states, “It picks up the biblical theme that God has fashioned for himself a people feely communicating his spirit and his gifts” (50). The Body of Christ as stated in Dulles is, “the main point of mutual union, concern and dependence of the members of the local community upon one another,” (43). The body of Christ will only function is the whole community is willing to work together to reach a personal growth in their relationship with God. Now that we have an idea of what Church as mystical communion consists of I will discuss the strengths and weakness of this model. The strength of this model is that emphasizes a shared life with the community instead of shutting them off. This is a strength because when people come together as a whole everything holds so much more meaning and people can form a stronger bond with God, now that it is much more personal and voluntary. Another strength is that this model improves people spirituality and prayer life now that they feel that personal connection that they formed. A weakness of this model is that it creates unsure relationship between the visible and invisible, since Grace allows people to get closer to God through the invisible such as communion while the visible structure like institutionalism tries to emphasize their power over the whole people. I have discussed what the models mean, their strength and weakness of each so now I will note the difference and

During this week, I read an interesting book “Big four” wrote by Dr kidder. This reading assignment helps me see how the ministry can be fruitful when you are willing to commit your life to Christ completely.in the beginning of this book he point out the two things that every members desired about church. The thought church is an exciting place to do ministry and experience the grace of God in community.in addition, the want their church to be a place where people can find they love of Jesus Christ.

First, I asked him about the background regarding the denomination of the church and how that came about. When asked about their affiliation, Brady knew some facts about their history but recommended speaking to the head pastor, Tim Estes. Tim Estes grew United Pentecostal and as time progressed, he recognized legal things that did not line up with the Word of God. He was the Chairman of Arkansas youth camp grounds committee that is associated with that denomination. The year he was president of this group, he stepped down, and received a lot of backlash. People said things like he was ‘leaving the will of God,’ he is ‘going to hell,’ he is ‘not a Christian,’ and overall wasn’t doing things right. However, Estes’ conviction to leave was because he knew he was following the Word of God. During this time of transition, Brady informed me that about half of the church’s congregation left, and this left the church with about 100 people. The Pastor, Tim Estes, is currently writing a book about the transition. Brady gave some insight on what makes someone United Pentecostal. He described the denomination’s doctrine full of “man-made rules, and not scriptural.” In regards to the trinity, United Pentecostals

Church is an important part of being a Christian. It isn’t about the building or what it looks like, but it is about the community and learning about God. When saying we love Jesus, but hate the church we have to understand that saying this is impossible. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, talks about how Jesus is the head of the church and we are the body. If we hate the church it is like hating the head of the body. People get so involved in what the church may look, whether it has a modern day feel to it or if the building hasn’t changed since they were kids. After being a part of a church for so many years you get comfortable with the surrounds. I found this project interesting because I got to see how different churches worship Jesus. Especially

After going through this class, my stance on these ideas haven’t really changed; they are all the same even though we try to keep them apart, but they cannot exist alone. But my ideas of if they are evil or bad have changed, I sometimes don’t want this or tend to ignore it, but that makes me horrible pastor. Sadly, to present these ideas to congregations, a certain kind of trust needs to be ensued. Amos is the best to present these ideas of a church is going a certain way or if they wish to study the different effects that money, power, and cult is how our world and how people are run by these. And to get these views out I have chosen a few chapters: chapters two and three, with the way one is to respond to idea of power, the end of chapter five in worship and our cult, and lastly chapter seven with our responsibilities to the needy.

Imagine yourself getting ready to attend church. Attending a house church in the first century or going to a denominational or mainline church in the twenty first century. The church may be Independent, or even a more contemporary church with the most up to date songs and latest technological equipment for enhanced presentations. You have attended there for some time now and called it home or your church. Some of your immediate family attends along with a few relatives. You have made some personal friendships and you and your family have developed positive fellowship with many who attend on a regular basis.