...The Episcopal Church and My Reflections on Service Attendance History The earliest beginnings of what is now known as the Episcopal Church were rooted in the Church of England. St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597 C.E. established the formal beginnings of the church with papal authority. During the English Reformation of the 16th century, papal authority was thrown aside as the Church split and the separation of Protestantism and Catholic faith intensified when the crown of England assumed official rule of the Church. As colonization spread into the new world, so did the Anglican Church of England. Unfortunately, the Revolutionary War brought upheaval to the church and its followers. With the newly established separation of church and state, clergy abandoned the churches, returning to England and Canada. Eventually, there was also renaming of the Church as The Protestant Episcopal Church in 1783. Between 1789 and 1790, the American Church pursued the unification of all Episcopalians in the United States into one church. They adopted a constitution, set-up new canon laws, and even revised the Book of Common Prayer. Having its history in the liturgy, customs, and framework of medieval Catholicism, the Episcopal Church has maintained its connections to these early symbols of the religious experience. Their services include the Creeds and the use of the Book of Common Prayer, while asserting the primary role of the Bible. Within this one denomination there is an amalgam...
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...Although my last food journey as a Paleo was difficult, it was very rewarding as I learned much about the differences between our diets and ancestors’ diets. The one entity the Paleo diet lacked, however, was a religious backbone. When I was offered the opportunity to embark on a new venture, I was excited to explore the practice of eating kosher-style. While keeping my Lenten promise of avoiding sweets, I decided to dabble with the some Jewish food rules. I find it very interesting that we often regard food as an enemy—avoiding sweets during the season of Lent and never mixing dairy with meat when following the rules of kashrut—but why do we partake in such food rules? Perhaps, we abide by these rules so that we remain in good standings with God or maybe because we want to attain salvation. Throughout my kosher-style expedition, I searched for an answer and turned to several notable texts for insight. According to the rules of kashrut, there are several impermissible food combinations. Kashrut forbids one from cooking or eating meat and dairy products together. Furthermore, some Jews wait one to three, or sometimes six hours after eating meat before eating dairy again. Similar customs impose waiting periods for eating meat after one has consumed dairy; however, these periods are typically shorter in length (Sigman). The laws of kashrut extend so far that food must: (1) come from a proper source (no shellfish or pork), (2) be prepared in a specific manner and (3) not be combined...
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...In the book How To Read Literature Like a Professor, the author interprets communion in an unlikely manner. He states, “…whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion.”(Foster 8). That means even if you’re eating as a family or with a group of people, you’re all taking place in communion. One generally thinks communion is a practice that takes place only in churches. In the book The Things They Carried, O’Brien writes about communion as Foster defines. In one instance, they were sitting around in the hot sun and they were all taking salt tabs just to stay alive (O'Brien 185). O'Brien also says, "Late in the afternoon, just before dusk, Kiowa came up and asked if he could sit at my foxhole for a minute. He offered me a Christmas cookie...
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...In the Westwood’s movie, most of the plots and settings are similar as those in the novel, except the abridged background information and some minor modifications. The structures of those two works are uniform; start with the stories in three main characters’ childhoods, following by what happens in decades later, after they grow up and have their own families. Both movie and novel tell the murder and Nadine’s First Communion in parallel structure. When I read the book, I feel a little bit confused because the scenes keep switching, but then I find the structure reinforces Jimmy’s ambivalent feelings for his daughter, angry but dysphoric. Happy for his youngest daughter’s First Communion, but worried about his first daughter. The movie version...
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...Pathway Church is an evangelical free church. At Pathway, communion occurs on the first Sunday of every month in both our regular service and our classic service. At Pathway, we take part in open communion. Open communion is a ceremony, not only for the members of the church, but for all believers. As long as you have accepted that you are a sinner and that Jesus Christ is your Savior, you are welcome to participate in communion at Pathway. In 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, we are commanded to examine ourselves and “recognized the body of the lord.” If a child wishes to participate in communion, they are encouraged to first accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and then discuss with their parents the meaning and reason behind communion. When...
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...could never do on our own power. In return, Jesus makes a simple request, remember this act of love He performed on our behalf. Jesus Christ did not have to die for us. He did, however, because He values every life on earth and wants to see each of us sitting at His dining table someday in heaven. *WHAT IS HOLY COMMUNION? Holy Communion is the receiving of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. > Just as it is necessary to nourish our bodies with material food, so also it is necessary to nourish our souls with spiritual food. Our Divine Savior so loved us that He gave us Himself in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist; He gave us His own body and blood as food for our souls. *WHAT ARE THE CHIEF EFFECTS OF RECEIVING A WORTHY COMMUNION? The chief effects of a worthy Holy Communion are: 1.) A closer union with Our Lord and a more fervent love of God and of our neighbor; 2.) An increase of sanctifying grace; 3.) Preservation from mortal sin the and remission of venial sin; 4.) The lessening of our inclinations to sin and the help to practice good works. How should we prepare ourselves for Holy Communion? We should prepare ourselves for Holy Communion by thinking of Our Divine Redeemer whom we are about to receive, and by making fervent acts of faith, hope, love, and contrition. (a) We should be neat, clean, and modest in our appearance, and respectful and reverent in our manner. (b) Each time...
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...Dorothy: I totally agree humility is important in the creation of communion. Yet, I think communion can also be formed through the marginalized. I am sure both of you remember this, but an impactful event in my life was the execution of Italian Catholic Radicals, Sacco and Vanzetti. More than likely, these two men were innocent and this horrified myself and a lot of the country. Yet, Sacco’s and Vanzetti’s death symbolized a much bigger picture in the United States. They represented all the people who were influenced by injustices in the world. I remember how “all [of] the nation mourned. All the nation, that is, that is made up of the poor, the worker, the trade unionist- those who felt most keenly the sense of solidarity- that very sense...
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...Elements of Religious Tradition Elements of Religious Tradition Religious traditions are practices followed for generations. These customs are normally reenactments or symbolic activities done in remembrance of an event. The Christian faith practices a tradition of Holy Communion or Eucharist. Communion is a ceremony where church members eat bread and drink wine in an intimate encounter with Christ. A reenactment of the biblical Last Supper, the church attempts to partake spiritually of the Lord, fellowship with believers, remember his mercy for salvation, and anticipate his second coming. Text The Baptist church refers to the Holy Bible for guidance on spiritual matters. Communion references are found in many New Testament books, including Corinthians, Matthew, John, Psalms, and Ephesians. Communion is a symbolic act of obedience memorializing Jesus’ death and a reminder of his return. Breaking of the bread resembles the Lord’s body broken and sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins (1Cor 11:24). Drinking of wine signifies the Lord’s blood, shed for atonement (1Cor 10:16). Teaching The Last Supper is a major event in Jesus’ earthly life. It is the last dinner the Jesus had with his 12 disciples. During this meal Jesus predicts his suffering and crucifixion. He provides followers with symbols of remembrance of his sacrifice; the bread and wine as his body and blood. Jesus describes principals for a Christian life and hope of his return for his people. The...
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...tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages. (“Munificentissimus Deus”) The Catholic religion is growing. Francis X. Rocca, a reporter on Religion News Services for USA Today, wrote in her article, “The number of Catholics in the world edged up 1% in 2009, the Vatican says, bringing to 1.18 billion the number of adherents of the world's largest church, about one in five of the global population” (Rocca). The main event in Catholicism is the Eucharist, commonly known as communion. It represents the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples. Jesus took bread and wine and expressed that the bread symbolized his body and the wine symbolized his blood. Catholics take communion every...
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...explained or understood. 3) Jesus is an effaces sign because instead of just revealing God’s love for us he actually brings us the love. 4) He is not the eight sacrament because he is the basis of all of the sacraments. reflection 1)I haven’t received my first communion. 2)I wouldn't say that i have a strong longing for Christ yet. I am still trying to figure things out about religion before i can fully commit. pg.15 1) It is a mystery, it is a visible sign of the unseen divine reality, and it is an efficacious sign. 2) Sheepfold, flock of sheep, cultivated field or vineyard, building of God, bride if christ and mother and new jerusalem. 3) The church is a sign of holiness because the holy spirit dwells in the church and in the hearts of the faithful, sign of catholicity because it is universal, sign of apostolicity because the church is supervised by leaders who are authorized to act in the name of christ and it is a sign of oneness because all the churches are united with each other by faith. reflection 1) ? pg.20 1) Communion with Christ and the church, communion with people throughout the world,communion with other catholics and communion of saints. 2) Try to welcome everyone and realize that every person has something positive to bring to the church. 3) Human Solidarity relates to the churches mission because if someone...
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...7. Essay The Lord’s Supper is a doctrine of grace. If Jesus’ body and blood was not sacrificed for us then we would not have hope for forgiveness and we would be doomed to eternal damnation. However, since we have been blessed with the gift of forgiveness and Jesus offered himself up on the cross for us we have hope. We remember Christ’s sacrifice during church services on Sundays when we celebrate Holy Communion. While The Lord’s Supper is one of the key doctrines of Christianity there are many questions and arguments that arise when discussing the Eucharist. Issues such as the validity of the elements actually being Christ’s body and blood, what elements to use, the debate of open verse closed Communion and various adiaphora topics arise when The Lord’s Supper is discussed. Admittedly I was not very well informed in regards to such issues until this class. However the unit on this doctrine was able to illuminate these issues and give a solid scriptural foundation for answering certain questions in regards to The Lord’s Supper. One of the largest sources of controversy when discussing the Eucharist is the issue of the elements truly being Jesus’ body and blood. This idea is almost an assault on human logic. How can something that is seemingly bread and seemingly wine be blood and flesh? The answer to this enigma is simple and one would not have to look further than the Gospel. Jesus said himself in Mark 14, “Take it; this is my body” when referring to the bread and then later...
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...not the case, in our readings Whittington notes that, “the chaplain is at the beck and call of the entire community; not to affirm the validity of their religion, but to facilitate their freedom to believe it.” While it may be difficult to comprehend it happens in civilian services as well. For the past five weeks at my congregation a Messianic believer has been attending our church, driving over an hour each Sunday to partake in our services. The reason she attended was because she met our Senior Minister on an Israel tour back in October. The issue that she has is we partake in Communion each week. As a Messianic her understanding is that Communion is only to be received at Passover. Therefore she does not want any part in the communion process, including the handling of the tray. So in order to make it easier for her our servers have been made aware, and they simply move past her when the communion tray is passed. She has her beliefs, and while the Christian church has different beliefs we her to worship in her own way while not compromising our beliefs and our service. For a Messianic to enter into a Christian Church is very interesting dynamic, because they are very Torah based, and believe Christians have abandoned the Torah for Greek religion. Part of their evidence is in the name of Jesus. They believe the name should be Yeshua, and the name Jesus translates into Je-Zeus, the Greek god. Everybody has his or...
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...every communion of Buddhism, which always entails adherence to different attitudes and behaviors (Carrier 1). In correlation, the core postulation of Christian doctrine is the assumption that we completely have imperishable spirits which are barred by the fault of Adam and individually enjoin condemnation not only to suffering and evil in this universe, but to an endless of life in heaven, but the exclusive means to avoid this doom is through accepting that Christ was the offspring of the Almighty and liberated us by His death on the cross (Carrier 1). Besides that, Christian communions alternate with account to the correct entry demands for eternity home but they are all likely to concur that heartfelt and true belief in the aforementioned main thesis not only advance to a liveliness of goodness and happiness in this universe, but to endless life. According to Carrier (1), to disallow one of the two allegations is to disallow the entire validness of the indicated religions. In fact, even to propose that these allegations are inappropriate or of only secondary significance are to disallow the entire validness of these communions, because everything they enlighten merely creates sense in relation to these conclusive allegations concerning the exact character of human life. To the degree that everything they enlighten does create sense minus the allegations, it is found to be already defended by nonreligious rather than spiritual thought, which variably renders all communions as unnecessary...
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...The Eastern Church vs. the Western Church In the year 1054, due to political, cultural and religious reasons, the Great Schism divided Christianity into the Eastern Church (the Orthodox Church) and the Western Church (the Catholic Church). As a result of the Schism, differences increased between the two. The primary differences are the Papal claims of authority and the insertion of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed (Ware, 1963). Since the two were one prior to the Schism, there are similarities; for example, both celebrate the seven Sacraments, partake of Holy Communion, have Apostolic origins, have a hierarchical priesthood and celebrate Easter; however, even within these similarities are differences. The primary difference between the Eastern Church and the Western Church is in regards to the title and role of the head of the Church. The Pope is the head of the Western Church; whereas, the Patriarch is the leader of the Eastern Church. In the Catholic Church, the Pope is infallible. He can contradict lower ranking Church leaders. On the other hand, in the Orthodox Church, the Patriarch of Constantinople, also known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, is not infallible and does not have supreme authority. Sitting at the head of a council of Orthodox bishops, he is considered a "first among equals" (Brown, 2013). In addition to the difference between the Pope and Patriarch, is the insertion of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed. Originally the Nicene Creed...
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...Jesus’ resurrection. Later in the service, after the homily which is the time the Priest spoke about the gospel, the congregation took communion. The prayer before communion, along with all of the other prayers during the mass, was said while the congregation was kneeling on provided kneeling boards. The people were ushered to the front of the chapel where they were given a piece of bread and drank a sip of wine out of the communal wine glass. The bread is a symbol of Jesus’ body and the wine is a symbol of his blood. The tradition of communion actually started around the same time as Palm Sunday. He was celebrating the Passover with his disciples when he gave them communion. Later that night, Jesus was betrayed which eventually lead to the reason the Catholic Church observes Good Friday and Easter. In the Catholic Church, communion is used as a reminder that Jesus died for our sins, and we are forgiven of them. The exact words the priest says before communion in the Catholic Church come from the book from the Bible, Luke, chapter 22, verses 19 and 20, “And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.” I was not able to take communion since I am not Catholic or a member of the church I attended. ...
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