Church Comparison Essay

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Roman Catholic, Orthodox Church, and Protestant Church are the three main branches of Christianity. Under the same name of Christianity, these three were separated due to the differences in theology and culture. After attending Sunday services in all three dominations, the similarities and differences of these three Churches were observed. The first Sunday service attended was University Catholic Center at UCLA (UCC). In the front of the center, there weren’t any sculptures, but few paintings of saints and Virgin Mary were inside of the center. Inside the nave had a clean and simple themed interior. In the center of the nave was the alter, and above the altar was a sculpture of Jesus on the cross. The sculpture was very Renaissance themed …show more content…

Every time priest said something to the congregation, the congregation responded after the priest “Lord have mercy.” Everyone in the church responded as it was planned, while I have no clue when to say it. Then the priest glorified God and moved on to the first scripture reading. One of the church members stood up and walked towards the altar to read the scripture. Before she went up to the altar, she bowed down in front of the altar; after the reading, she stepped down from the altar and bowed down at it again. The main focus of the service was on the Eucharist. There was a prayer for the Eucharist, which consisted two times of singing a hymn and praying. After it, the church recited the Lord’s Prayer and prayed for the peace of the Christ to be in everyone’s heart and everywhere. Then there was a singing of Lamb of God. When it was the time for communion, people lined up in front of the priest. They held their two hands together when receiving the bread as the priest declared that it’s the body of Christ to anyone who received it. The wine was shared with one cup, and the priest declared that it’s the blood of Christ. For the people who didn’t take part in the communion, the priest blessed them. During the Eucharist and except when lining up for the communion, people were kneeling down. People kneeled to show that they are humble before God and before taking part in the Eucharist. The mass ended fairly quickly after the Eucharist as the priest blessed the church and kissed the

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