The Significance of the Features and Furnishings of a Christian Place of Worship
Different Christian churches have different features and furnishings
inside of them. These differences in the churches show that churches
place different emphasis on what they believe in. The features and
furnishings in a church help people to worship.
There are objects in catholic churches which would not be found in non
catholic churches and there are objects found in non catholic churches
which have objects which catholic churches don’t have.
In a Catholic church most of the features and furnishings are meant to
aid people’s worship of God and Jesus. A church is meant to create an
atmosphere of awe and a sense of respect towards God and what he
represents.
When entering a church the main focus is usually on the alter. An
alter is found in Roman Catholic Church, they are linked to sacrifice.
It is used to re-enact the sacrifice of Jesus during the mass. Unlike
other religions Catholics believe Jesus’s death is the most important
point. This is important to strengthen a person’s belief that God sent
his only son to die for us which is one of the central beliefs of the
Roman Catholic religion.
This contrasts with the communion table which focus’s instead on the
last supper, non Catholics believe that Jesus’s life and resurrection
is more important than Jesus’s death. It reminds people of the last
supper and gives the community an opportunity to share together when
taking the Holy Eucharist, this is when people take the bread and wine
which is the body and blood of Christ.
The host, the blessed bread, is kept in a Tabernacle. A tabernacle is
used in Roman Catholic churches to hold the host as hosts are not
thrown away because it is the body of Christ. This shows the real
presence. It is also a focus for people praying, it aides their
worship.
In a Roman Catholic Church a sanctuary light is lit when hosts are
present in the Tabernacle.
Christ/God, the love and kindness, or the good, that the Christian religion conveys, or the inner happiness and the peace of mind, or the reward, that the person would inevetably achieve by following the word of Christ.
The Essential Features in an Orthodox Synagogue Recall, select, organize and deploy knowledge of Jewish belief and sources of authority, practice and organisation. The main function of the Jewish synagogue is worship, with the emphasis on prayer and reading. For Jews the synagogue is not just a building the word synagogue also refers to the community or congregation. The main features of all synagogues, especially the symbols, are designed to help people to worship God. The layout of the building is rectangular, with seats arranged on three sides.
The increase of wealth during the twelfth century allowed artists to showcase their talents in churches. The apse titled Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four Evangelists in the church of Santa Maria de Mur displays the representation of divinity through its subject matter, technique, and style. In the apse, the main subjects revolve around scenes from the Old and New Testament with Christ as the focal point. For technique, the artist employed fresco painting instead of mosaics to show the images. The style of the apse avoids a sense of realism by hiding the bodies of the figures in the drapery and using the hierarchy of scale.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you… so that he many give eternal life to all you gave him” (John 17:1-2). He continues, “I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth,” (John 17:19). Jesus’ prayer is to bring us into perfection with God, for us to know him, and understand his love for us. This is achieved through God’s loving sacrifice as evidenced in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”. Opposite from the notion that we must sacrifice our first born sons for God, God sacrifices his son for us. This is made reality in the passion and suffering of
Every year, on the day before Easter, one of the biggest and most important masses of the year happens on that night. The mass is called the Easter Vigil. The Vigil brings out the true and full nature of the Catholic Church and all of its people. It celebrates Jesus Christ, as he rises from the dead and ascends into heaven. Since this mass is so large, it is split into four parts. The first, the Service of Light, and is the most solemn part of the mass the Church celebrates. The second part is the Liturgy of the Word, in which you listen to a reader who reads from the books of the Bible such as Genesis and Exodus. The third part of the celebration is known as the Celebration of the Rites of Initiation. At this point people become part of the Church and receive such sacraments as Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation. The fourth part of the vigil is the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Eucharist is the climax of the Easter Vigil. The Easter Vigil is the biggest mass in the Church and it requires four parts in the Service of Light, The Liturgy of the Word, the Celebration of the Rights of Initiation, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, but also requires much more faith and concentration to fully appreciate it.
the altar steps. After, they take a step to the side of the altar and
The Western church is described as being smaller in land mass, and less diverse (Shields, & Butzu, 2007, p. 103). The Eastern church is described as being quite vast, and full of different types of people (each with their own languages and customs that had an effect on the development of their worship styles and methods). Further we discover that the West had celebrated a time of peace (Christianity was legal, so there was a significant decrease in martyrdom), conversely the Eastern church was geographically located closely to an Islamic population, which meant it had a large military in comparison to the West. I should also point out that there was a shift in this time-period of the church providing what can be described as a governmental role, so in a very practical way being a bishop in the East could mean sending troops to defend members of your church (Shields, & Butzu, 2007, p. 103).
From the beginning of the establishment of the Christian church there have always been controversies about how the organization has been run. The Da Vinci code and The Secret Supper deal with an alternative interpretation of early Christianity and the gospels, far different from that of the orthodox Catholic Church, both novels also deal with mysteries behind some of Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous paintings.
We do tend to expect certain things when we enter a place of worship, or peruse an active ministry, and truthfully, when taking in Christian oriented art. There are a couple reoccurring emblems, symbols, well-worn themes, and subjects which have been deemed safe, coming under overuse, carrying the weight of a saltine in the impact it makes on people, including us. While intentions are almost always well meaning, these conventions appear to the secular as a genre of its own in culture and art, quite often ringing with an unsavory note of incompetence. That’s already an unpleasant attribution to a faith that has changed the world, having built the infrastructure of empathy that has survived ages and permeates the social development of our western culture. It speaks to a deeper issue within the Church itself, which is a woeful lack of inspiration.
meal. He knew that it was now time for him to return to his father.
For my observation trip, I decided to visit St. Ignatius Church in Oregon, Ohio. I visited a mass at 11:30 on Sunday November 19. I decided to visit a catholic church because my family has no religious background whatsoever, and I decided that I could go with one of my good friends that way if I need to ask questions, she was there to answer them for me.
everything we have, we dedicate it to Him, and we live our lives in service to Him.
Throughout history the term “worship” has been used to describe the act or process of created beings paying homage or bringing sacrifice to God. From the earliest recorded instance of worship in the fourth chapter of Genesis until this very day we see that in every age and culture there is abundant evidence that mankind has been created as a worshipful being. However, not all worship is biblical or true worship, and therefore not all is acceptable to God. Jesus cites the prophet Isaiah’s instruction on a worship that is “vain” in Matthew 15:9. The Apostle Paul teaches of a worship that is “ignorant” in Acts 17:23. Even in the very first act of worship noted above, we see that the offering of Cain was rejected by God as unacceptable to Him. Worldwide use today of the term “worship” loosely includes everything from the attendance at any given “place of worship” to the intense attention one might pay to their own body. This worldly “philosophy of worship” is not only flawed, but extremely dangerous when one explores what true worship is, the proper place for it in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ and the impact that it has on both the worshiper and the world in which we live.
What is worship? Worship defined as the structuring of time to help it fulfill its purposes. Martin Luther defined Worship as God Speak (rede) to us through the word of God and that in return we talk (reden) back to Him in prayer and songs of Praise. Worship began with obedience to God and a one on one with God. Praise is congregational confirmation.