On Friday, October 6, I attended a temple service, organized by Hevreh of Southern Berkshire County, for the first time. The temple had polished tan wood walls, one wall of windows, a ring of lights overhead, and then about 200 wooden chairs set up facing the Rabbi.
In the service, I was one of about 150 other people inside the quite spacious temple. The interior arrangement was divided into three different sections, with ailes in between each section. Similar to the outfield stands of a baseball field, the seats were all positioned to put the center of attention, Rabbi in this case, in direct view. Unlike a normal church service, their were no exits, entrances, or franky, any movement throughout. The entire service revolved around reading the Jewish holy books. Unlike my prior experiences in a church, this temple had no raised areas within the room. The people who lead the temple service mainly stood in front of the arc and behind the table with the Jewish holy book, while one person played music throughout and eventually
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The common persona of the audience was older, white people. Another common characteristic was the large amount of men with facial hair. Regarding person appearance, the majority of the people seemed to wear formal attire, with some more or less fancy than others. Being a Christian who attended church every Sunday, I saw the same devotion to Christianity that I did with Judaism. The majority people in attendance were active participants throughout the service, as they sung and read along with the Rabbi. Throughout the service, the Rabbi continuously mentioned what part of the Jewish holy we were reading or singing from to help the audience follow along. Additionally, the people showed great respect, kindness, and welcomed one another. In fact, the couple that sat near me engaged my fellow classmate and demonstrated a genuine interest in who he
The service concluded with the bishop standing and speaking to the people for a few minutes he spoke on the importance of the service and He shared some scripture and personal stories. After the service Father Constantine invited everyone next door for refreshments, and stayed in the nave to answer any of our questions, this time was very helpful to me since this was my first time at a Orthodox church. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience I learned a lot about the Orthodox tradition. I don't think I would have been able to grasp the differences between the different branches in Christianity without witnessing them first hand.
This experience was really out of my comfort zone. It was hard to be an outsider and not prepared for what was to come and not speaking one of the languages used to understand the entire service. This service learning project gave me the opportunity to try a new church and gain a deeper respect for a different religion. Everyone at the service was very educated on speaking the sacred texts and participating in the rituals practiced. I hope to have gained a better understanding for those who are new to religions and are nervous to come to a worship service. I will make more of an effort to be welcoming and accommodating to those who are new to our church.
...in Islam singing never been a part of a ritual practice. That church was different than any other worshiping places I have visited before. I was very happy after this experience, because they still send me emails, mails, and thank you cards every Sunday. Before I leave they gave me a copy of New Testament Book and The Story of Jesus to help me in my research. I did not feel that I’m a stranger or a guest; I felt that I am one of the group members and my present is important for them. Obviously , through that experience their goals was knowing God through believing in Christ, grow in faith and spiritual maturity by providing opportunities for spiritual growth through Life Groups, and love and serve others unselfishly as Christ did, by equipping and preparing for service and offering various opportunities to serve within the church and in our community and the world.
There were people of many different ethnicities and social standings present, yet everyone was treated the same. Everyone was equal in the sight of God and in the sight of everyone that gathered there. These believers all served each other and made a point to help those that were in need. This included helping the poor people that had absolutely
...t also with acceptance as one of their own, although I never wore a Tallit or Kippah. This was a very peculiar position since I have never been so accustomed to this sort of kindness. By the end of the Jewish service, not only did I respect and appreciate their faith much more, but, in a way, I began to grow a love for it as well. While I felt no negative feelings towards the service, the most positive aspect would, most definitely, be the warmth I felt from everyone inside the Synagogue and from the presentation of the building itself. At first glance, I was not able to fully appreciate the decorations in the room, but the longer I observed I began to realize each decoration represented something significant. Overall, if I learned anything important this day it is that one thing holds true: I can still appreciate ideas and concepts even if I do not agree with them.
For my field experience activity I choose to go and visit the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Cumming, Georgia. I choose this particular location because not only did it represent a religious sector that I was very uninformed of, but this specific building is one that has been there for almost 15 years now and I would say I have driven by it without paying it any mind just about 5-6 times a week for several years. The Kingdom Hall is made entirely out of red brick. The Kingdom Hall building is a simple setup. They have a general meeting area with about 150 seats inside and a podium for speaking purposes. They have a couple of additional rooms for storage purposes and multipurpose areas like a kitchen and other open areas for different things.
The church external appearance was quite different than other churches that I have seen. It was basically a big white stucco block with a gold dome on top and four decorated spikes on each corner of the building that surrounded the dome. The people of course were all Greek and were very well dressed. Most of the men and boys all wore suits, and If not they had some kind of vest on. I don’t know if this was some kind of rule or tradition, but it mostly seemed as a respect to God. The women all wore the basic dresses, and all the skirts fell down below the knee. Everybody was proper and ordered. As I walked in the church I entered a lobby of some kind. What I saw hear was something like social hour. Everybody was in there. They were all speaking Greek, and I felt as if I was in a family reunion party. The children were all together; the adults talked together and the young adults all were together. The way they all socialize is when someone comes up to say hello, they give each other a kiss on the cheek and a hug. These people are all very close to each other. It seems as if the church is the center of their lives. I admire that trait as well. To enter the auditorium you must enter this little room, which has a piece of garment from St. Constantine and St. Helen. Also there were candles lit. As they walked through this little room they lit a candle and knelt down for a moment to pray, and then touched each garment and made a cross over their chest.
Once the service started, my friend showed me where the schedule for the service was and what each number meant. There were different colors of numbers in the book and those indicated what section the reading or song was coming from. This was different from the church that I attend because we have a choir and a band that plays the songs and if you wish to join in you can but for the Catholic Church there is, no choir and the members of the church are the ones who sing. After some singing, the priest came up to talk and this is very different from what I expected. I was used to flipping through the channels and seeing the catholic churches with the priest who were a ...
I arrived at the destination of where the ritual observation was to take place at 9:45 a.m. on February 23, 2014. The ritual takes place in Brockville, Ontario in a building called the New Hope Brockville Tabernacle. The tabernacle is a large building that has a tower, also known as a steeple, erected on the roof. On the steeple is the symbol of the cross. The front doors opened up to a large foyer where the majority of the people inside were gathered in various small groups. These groups were composed of members similar in age. Everyone who entered through the doors was greeted with lots of hugs and welcomes.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience of learning more about a new culture and participating in their cultural events. My original fear of being an intruder went away when people would be friendly and introduce themselves to me. I was surprised to enter the prayer room and see that people were sitting on the floor because I am used to people having a chair to sit on. I was also nervous about sitting on the floor for a long period of time because my body is not used to it and I am not as youthful as I once was. After about thirty minutes, I started to get really uncomfortable, but I continued to sit because I did not want to be offensive by standing. I was surprised to see volunteers cooking meals for the guest because that is not something that I am used to seeing at a
into a richer experience of worship and a more effect life of service" (Crabb, 1977, p.31). The method to establishing an
My husband and I attended The Hindu Temple of San Antonio on 18518 Bandera Road, Helotes, TX 78023. The worship service started at 10:30AM and lasted about an hour, and following was a celebration picnic which started at 11:30 AM to about 2:00PM. My husband and I left at the end of the worship service in the Hindu temple and did not stay for the festivities to follow due to prior obligations. The Hindu Temple’s normal working hours are Monday - Friday (9 AM - 12 Noon) (5:30 PM - 8:30 PM) Saturday - Sunday (9 AM - 7 PM). This particular Hindu worship service and following festivities was dedicated to the celebration of Abhishekam to Ganesha Balavikas Ganesh Chaturthi and the Conclusion of Ganesha Utsav and Nimajjanam.
It was magnificent. The first thing to catch my eye was a monstrous chandelier that hung from the 50 foot ceiling. It was awe inspiring. As my eyes surveyed the room, it was hard to miss the antique maple pews that provided seats for approximately 300 people. Plush emerald green carpet was the grounding to the room. It's path led directly up to the stage which was home to a variety of items. The band, pulpit, arid baptismal were the most obvious. Above the stage was a huge dome, it was colored in shades of blue, mauve, white, and several other soft accents. A bright light was right in the center of its point. Our gazing was soon interrupted when the official greeter returned. This time she was quick and to the point. She collected our cards and informed us that service was about to begin. Within a matter of minutes, a middle-aged man stepped up to the pulpit and asked us to stand.
The people there were all extremely nice and would try to help me understand. They understood and accepted the fact that I wasn’t religious, but was showing interest in their faith. There were not as much people there as I had expected, but that might have been because it was a smaller church. It also wasn’t as racially diverse as I had expected. I thought that because it is the world’s biggest religion, that it
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a service that I got to attend that was different from my own religious tradition. I decided to go with my chosen topic because to be honest I had never experienced or thought to experience a different type of church service other than the one I grew up in. I grew up in a Christian home and attended a non-denominational Christian church on a regular basis. I just never felt the need to experience something that was different. So I decided to attend a mass at a Catholic church. I had been to weddings in a Catholic church and even funerals with a Catholic involvement but not an actual mass.