...Applying Concepts At Mass The service I attended was at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on the corner of South Fifth Avenue and Ann Street in Wilmington, NC. I went there on March 27, 2011 at 11:00 am. St. Mary’s Catholic Church is a post-Vatican II parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. The Mass I attended celebrated the Third Sunday in Lent. As I entered the Church, the priest, Father Bob, was standing at the door greeting people. As I was looking around in the lobby, Father Bob noticed I was not a regular and approached me. He was very kind and eager to answer questions. He handed me the Church’s newsletter and an Order of Mass. The building was a large brick building. It is a Spanish Baroque style structure with no wood beams, framing, or nails. It is constructed of only bricks and tile. Ground was broken for the church on May 20, 1908 and the first mass held there was on December 17, 1911. The Roman Catholic Church is based in Christianity and is a theistic religion. In greater detail it is a monotheistic religion. There are many hierophanies in the Catholic Church. An example of a sacred place would be the church itself. An example of a sacred person would be the priest or Father Bob at St. Mary’s. Also in the Catholic Church Saints and Popes would be regarded as very sacred people. The mass I attended was during the sacred time of Lent, which is a forty day period. The Catholic Church is not iconoclastic at all. At St. Mary’s there were multiple depictions of the...
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...My First Experience At Catholic Church Introduction Christianity today is one of the dominant religions in the world with over 2 billion followers. It has an extensive variety of beliefs, forms and exercises, despite this extensiveness all have one common thing, which is faith in Jesus Christ (Hastings, 2000). I having been brought up in the Baptist beliefs and practices had not gotten a chance to attend a church outside my traditional church the Baptist. Lately I got an expected opportunity to attend the Catholic Church mass and the experience was one of its kinds. The Experience On arrival at the church, I felt a bit nervous, as it was my first time to be in a catholic church. the environment around was still and this made me feel nervous. The first impression that I received was the beauty of the church. I was convinced that much attention was directed towards maintaining the quality of the church. The inside was good looking stained window glasses, candles, and the portrayal of Christ on the cross. The architects and arts inside the church was a clear indication of how holly and clean the place was for worship. The presence of Christ portrait made me feel in place, as it was an indication that the people had faith in Jesus Christ (Rasmussen, 2003). Being a visitor in this church the shaking of everyone’s hands by the priest at the entrance as they entered the service brought a feeling of warm welcome to the church and eliminated the weird feeling of being a stranger...
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...familiar to them as well as experience new things. Although I have Catholic beliefs I do not actually practice the religion. This is why I chose to immerse myself into the Catholic Church for this project. I chose to visit the Catholic Church St. Michael’s in Long Branch, I went to the 4 pm mass on Ash Wednesday as well as the 9 am mass on the following Sunday with my roommate who is a devote Catholic. I chose to “culture-watch” in a Catholic Church because I have never sat through a full mass but I do believe the religion...
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...visited a Roman Catholic diocese in Albany on 40 N Main Ave. To open the Roman Catholic faith has always been intriguing to me, and this assignment gave me a reason to explore it more. Growing up in a Christian faith, I have known the tenants of Christianity. The first thing that really impressed on me in attending mass was the beauty of the church itself. It is clear that much care is placed in maintaining the simple elegance of the church. Inside the church are stained glass windows. The main window was a depiction Jesus on the cross. Many smaller windows showed different Apostles and Saints. There were several square wood carvings lining the walls along the sides of the church. A practitioner next to me told me that they were the stages of the cross, and used by Catholics to help them focus on particular prayers. The mass itself was a memorable experience for me. I really enjoyed the singing and the message by the priest out of the books of Isaiah and Mark. The order of events was similar to my own church, but there was a lot of kneeling, and recited prayers and creeds that the entire congregation participated in. I must say that coming from a background that sees church as a very relaxed affair, there was something very nice about the ritual and recitation of the prayers and creeds. I participated and tried to follow along with everything. I found these rituals helped me to put myself in a place of true worship and reflection. The ritual and acts the Catholic Church performs...
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...RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE Religious Background I come from a Catholic family. Since I remember, Sunday has always being the day dedicated specifically to God. We attend mass almost every Sunday. For this religious experience paper, I decided to attend a Seventh-day Adventist Church. I chose to explore this denomination because I was curious to know why they observe Saturdays instead of Sundays as Catholics do. Adventists hold some similar beliefs as many Catholics such as the Trinity, Christ’s divinity, the virgin birth, a physical resurrection of the dead, and Christ’s Second Coming (Brom). However, they believe that the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon, the Pope is the Antichrist; in the last days, Sunday worship will be “the mark of the beast”; and that the soul sleeps between death and resurrection (Brom). Ideas Gained through this Experience At the moment I entered their temple, I started noticing differences. I felt everyone was looking at me, as if they knew that was my first time attending their church. Some of the differences I discovered between the Seventh-day Adventist and the Catholic Church are the following: the Adventist Church does not have any images of God, Jesus, Saints or Virgin Mary; all women wear dresses or long skirts, no one had jeans or pants, they do not wear jewelry either; Adventists start their service at 9am and finish at around 2pm, while Catholic masses only last one hour; their pastor wears a regular suit; Adventists take their Bible...
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...The Baptists are one of the largest Christian denominations. As indicated by their name, the primary Baptist distinctive is their practice of "believer's baptism" instead of infant baptism. Baptist churches tend to be evangelical in doctrine and reformed in worship, but beliefs and practices can vary due to the autonomy of individual Baptist churches. Historically, Baptists have played a key role in encouraging religious freedom and separation of church and state. In the United States, the two largest Baptist organizations are the Southern Baptist Churches (SBC) and the American Baptist Churches (ABC). Notable Baptists have included Martin Luther King, Jr., Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan and Billy Graham. My friend, whom I attended a Baptist...
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...Colclasure What is Religion What is religion? Before reading the first two chapters of my text book I thought religion were my beliefs in the spiritual world. In reality I have never really had a belief in a religion, this could possibly be due to lack of education in the topic or the various religions. I grew up being Catholic. My parents, grandparents, and family members are Catholics. I on the other hand never really understood much of what was being said in mass. Prayer was more of memorization not understanding, same with the church choir I knew some songs because I had memorized the songs, not understood the meaning of the lyrics or exactly who the Catholics were parsing. There was a few things I would not understand or agree with, I never understood the concept of praying to statues or best known as saints. I felt that if Jesus Christ or God was so powerful and what not we should have only been praying to him as well as devoting our faith to him. I never exactly questioned my parents because I did not want to upset them. Traditions in the Catholic religion or ceremonies perhaps are baptisms, first communion, some form of presentation when the child turns three years of age, confessions, weddings, and mass services for the deceased that I know of, I am sure there are more traditions I am unaware of or have probably forgot with time. Every Sunday during mass services Catholics receive what is called the blood and or flesh of Christ through a piece of bread, in Spanish...
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...11-12:30 Weckerly Faith Community For my Faith Community assignment, the place of worship that I chose to attend was the non-denominational church, Real Life. Being a non-denominational establishment, means that they do consider themselves Christians without determining which branch Christianity they belong to. Basically, they worship god and accept anyone who does the same. Since I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, it was quite a different experience. When I first arrived I was immediately greeted by several people welcoming me to the church and asking me if I needed help finding my way around. I was very surprised by the amount of hospitality these people presented themselves with, because typically in a Catholic church everyone sort of sticks to themselves. Everyone was dressed in a different manner, in everything from gym clothes to a work uniform, the message portrayed in this was come as you are. “Sunday’s best” was paid no mind in this church. The room was an auditorium type set up with a huge big screen projector allowing everyone in the building to clearly see the pastor. There were no pews, no statues, no crosses, no deacons, no priest, instead, a band came out and started playing up-beat lively music. The people at the church really got into the music. Everyone was singing and dancing to the songs, and this went on for a good twenty minutes. This is much different from what I am used to because at the Catholic Church, the music is extremely traditional...
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...Report My New Experience with the Catholic Religion I am not a religious person and never really classified myself to be any religion. Growing up however, I did attend a Christian Church with my father every so often. I also attended vacation bible school every summer at Christian Churches so if I had to pick a religion I guess it would be Christianity. I believe in Heaven and Hell and I believe in Jesus Christ and God but I never attend church anymore. It is not that I would not like to but my fiancée and her family is Catholic and that is who I live by and who I am mostly with. Also, and not making excuses it is hard for me to attend church with two young children. My intentions for this assignment were to interview my half-brother who is very religious in the Christian religion but they live too far away and both our schedules are way too hectic. So I had to hurry and change my plans for this assignment. I knew that my fiancées side of the family is all Catholic so I asked the most religious of the family, which is my fiancées Aunt Carole. To research this paper, I interviewed my fiancés Aunt Carole. I do not often see her with both of our conflicting work schedules, but took advantage of a recent visit by asking her to attend a Catholic Sunday Mass with me. We stayed on after the Mass had concluded and I was able to interview regarding her views on the Catholic religion while we sat in at St. Andrews Catholic Church, which also happens to be where my fiancés...
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...there is a large Syrian community that attends the church. The church itself is fairly small, but has plenty of iconography of holy figures all over the walls and ceiling. The service at the Orthodox church had some similarities to my experience at a Catholic church, but there were many differences as well. Upon walking in to the church service, everyone already there was standing and listening to the all-men choir sing. The churchgoers seemed to be immersed in the song as they stood waiting for the service to start. The interaction of the individuals in the church was intriguing to witness. Many people knew other and would stop to socialize briefly when they saw one another. Having...
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...There is a big Catholic church in front of my uncle’s house and I have seen it since when I was young. I sometimes followed my grandparents who believed in Catholics, so I had an opportunity to go inside with them and experience the atmosphere of services of the religion though I do not remember now. Therefore, I can say that Catholic is the most familiar religion besides Christianity which I have deep faith in. What I remember from my memory about Catholics is that Mary is highly respected and worshiped in the religion. Until I learned about Catholics in this class, I have thought that Mary is the superior one that people worship and they do not worship to God as much as they do to Mary. As I learn about this religion through the course, however, I was able to know the true side of the religion and find the new aspects of the religion. Therefore, I decided to visit a Catholics church. The main reason...
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...Normally my Sunday mornings consist of sleeping until about 10 o'clock in the morning or going to volleyball practice. However, this Sunday was quite different than normal. I woke up around 7:45am to get ready and mentally prepare for an 8:30am Classic Divine Worship Service at the First Lutheran Church of Gainesville. This service was quite different from my typical evening Sunday Mass at St. Augustines Catholic Church. I have only ever attended a Catholic service and I was excited to experience a new religious service. The reason I chose a Lutheran Church was because I have always been curious about this particular religion. Some of my friends are Lutheran and I wanted to see what the church was all about. In this paper I will argue that by attending this Lutheran Service I was able to visualize different symbols, participate in different rituals and experiences, listen to the leader and members of the church, and understand the purpose of the Lutheran Church and their relation to America as a larger society....
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...be a part of the Jewish faith, but I do not practice my religion. Therefore I interviewed my girlfriend who is a part of the Christian belief system. Although she doesn’t claim to be a devout Catholic who attends mass every Sunday, she respects and acknowledges the traditions of her religion and observes the many holidays. When belonging to a specific parish, it involves being an active member of the Catholic community. This entails attending mass on Sundays, as well as the holidays throughout the year. It also means partaking in activities, and donating money and services to a specific church. Often, a parish will have a school for children to grow academically as well as spiritually. My girlfriend growing up attended a private Catholic school from the age of 4-18. Throughout her fourteen years, she was actively involved in her parish, including receiving all of her sacraments. My girlfriend considered receiving the sacraments to be an emotional experience as well as a ritual. There are seven sacraments in the Catholic Church that are not mandatory, but considered to be necessary for salvation. Many Catholics do not receive all seven. This could directly be an example of some Catholics having more weight towards one element than the others. The seven sacraments are as follows: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony, which is also known as marriage. My friend stated that she felt a special connection with...
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...Immersion Experience with the Baptist Church CNS 6565-10 Multicultural Foundations Winter 2015 Immersion Experience with the Baptist Church Of the fifty four churches located in Hinesville, Georgia the Baptist Church has thirteen churches located throughout the town. The purpose of selecting the Baptist Church Sunday service was to examine how Sunday services differ from the Sunday services at a Catholic Mass and to increase the cultural awareness of the Baptist Services and to explore why one member of its congregation chose this particular church over the other twelve Baptist churches available. Description of Activities On 1 March, 2015, The First Calvary Missionary Baptist Church was visited for its Sunday service. The church was full with almost every seat taken. A majority of the church members were African American. There were also two Hispanic families and three Caucasian families. The order of the church was praise and worship, choir singing, devotional services, church covenant, welcome and announcements, song selection, tithes/offering/benevolent, scriptures from the bible, hymn’s of worship, the sermon delivered by the pastor, altar call, invitation to discipleship, communion and benediction. The service was three hours long. It included many songs song by the choir in between each order. The orders of welcome and announcements, sermon delivered by the pastor, communion and benediction were each approximately forty minutes long with the...
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...My Christian Service program took place in The De La Salle School in Freeport, Long Island, New York, and it was an unforgettable experience. The De La Salle School is a Catholic, all boys middle school from 5th to 8th grade, who educate young men from economically disadvantaged situations. My job was to work in the after school tutoring program with one to two classes with about ten to fifteen kids in each class. My volunteer work could be ranging from helping the students study and do work, or talk and comfort them, and hang out with them during recess. Overall, my understanding of Christian Discipleship grew substantially throughout my work The De La Salle School, as well as the desire to find my true self through God's work and service. One of my most memorable experiences during my time at the school was meeting my first real friend “Onjay,” and helping him with his math homework.The first few times I visited the school, it was a bit awkward since I did not know anybody there. It was always quiet when I walked in, and I was at first always hesitant to ask someone if they needed help with something. Then one day, I saw Onjay with a confused and frustrated look on his face when he was doing his homework. So I finally walked over and asked if he needed some help....
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