All of my life I have attended the same church. This isn’t necessarily a bad situation, but it means that I haven’t had the opportunity to experience many other church settings. Our church meets on Saturdays, we don’t have a special building for services, renting rooms instead, and do not include the ceremonies and rituals of mainstream Christianity. Naturally, I am curious about what other people tie themselves to. Also naturally, I jump at the chance to find out. When receiving the assignment to observe something completely new, my mind flew to churches. A couple of days after deciding to visit St. James Episcopal for the Holy Eucharist, I was stepping out of the minivan, staring up at a building I had seen my whole life. I had constantly …show more content…
“These are Episcopalians,” she explained. “No one’s in a hurry.” She told us her husband would be arriving soon. “He’ll be videoing my sermon.” He voice became more animated as she explained that she was going to school, and would be receiving a grade for her sermon. “Normally we don’t video sermons,” she said, and hurried off to the back room. As she did, and older lady in a striped blue sweater with curly white hair came up and warmly introduced herself. An older man came in and set himself down in a middle pew. The older lady in blue tried to help us sort out where we would sit. “I’m a back of the church person,” she admitted, but sat with my Mom and I in the middle. I told Mom I was going to examine some of the wall hangings in the back. On one I found a list of nearly thirty reverends of this church. The waterfall of names dated back to the church’s founding, on October 17th, 1816. After I let my eyes rove over that, I as drawn to the tall, rich stained glass pictures. The many depicting Jesus Christ included the halo. My Mom later noted this, whispering during the service, and reminded me of its origin in sun …show more content…
Lit red candles hung on either side as the priest led the congregation in the liturgy. His voice resonated caught in his orange mouthpiece and resounded through the speakers. I noticed how the acoustics in the room made the words and his voice sound rich and powerful, and wondered if they would not have otherwise. My eyes followed along with their chanted words that they’d surely uttered so often before, each time their voices overlapping the last. Eventually the priest coughed, the prayers ended, and he left the
Webber, Christopher. Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction to Its History, Faith, and Worship. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999. Print.
Lee includes Scripture, Gospel, Hymns, Prayers and concludes the sermon in an “Amen” (37) by switching the posture to the audience. Perelman examined, “Every technique promoting the communion of the speaker with his audience will decrease the opposition between them” (79). Since Lee’s meaningful sermon consisted of the most essential techniques, her audience recognized her authority and capability to preach. She not only knew about the role of a minister, but also knew how to carry out her responsibilities as a minister, which enforced the appeal to ethos from the audience’s point of view. Lee compelled the audience to reconceive their discrimination of women
When choosing a religious service I was very limited on my choices so I was intrigued to go back to my roots and try the Catholic denomination. This denomination is the one that is most prevalent in my community and also in my social circle as well. Since I have actually been to a Catholic church as a child I thought I knew what to expect but I was shocked at how naive I was to the subject. My preconceived ideas and thoughts were that there would be a lot of getting down on your knees then back up again then saying your Hail Mary’s with not much depth to a service. Also growing up with a social group that was full of Catholics you would always hear of confession so that was something I was particularly dreading for the fact that I did not quite understand the concept and believe in it. This did not take place however which was a sigh of relief on my part cause I was not ready for that big of a leap from my own comfort zone.
Venturing inside, we all noticed two things very quickly: we were at once wearing entirely too much clothing to be comfortable in the sweltering heat, and entirely too little to fit in with the rest of the congregants assembled. And yet we were welcomed with open arms. We had arrived, the Reverend Rogers L. Pruitt emphasized as we filed into the sanctuary, on a very special day. As he distributed bulletins and hearty handshakes to the rest of the group, I noticed that the front of mine read "Fragment Day." As I looked around the modest sanctuary, I wondered what the service had in store for us.
Welcome to Gospel Spreading Church. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2011, from Gospel Spreading Church: www.http://gospelspreadingchurch.com/
I hid my face as I sat desperately alone in the back of the crowded church and stared through blurry eyes at the stained glass windows. Tears of fear and anguish soaked my red cheeks. Attempting to listen to the hollow words spoken with heartfelt emotion, I glanced at his picture, and my eyes became fixed on his beloved dog. Sudden flashes of sacred memories overcame me. Memories of soccer, his unforgettable smile, and our frequent exchange of playful insults, set my mind spinning. I longed only to hear his delighted voice once more. I sat for what seemed like hours in that lonely yet overcrowded church; my tears still flowed, and I still remembered.
At last I arrived, unmolested except for the rain, at the hefty decaying doors of the church. I pushed the door and it obediently opened, then I slid inside closing it surreptitiously behind me. No point in alerting others to my presence. As I turned my shoulder, my gaze was held by the magnificence of the architecture. It never fails to move me. My eyes begin by looking at the ceiling, and then they roam from side to side and finally along the walls drinking in the beauty of the stained glass windows which glowed in the candle light, finally coming to rest on the altar. I slipped into the nearest pew with the intention of saying a few prayers when I noticed him. His eyes were fixated upon me. I stared at the floor, but it was too late, because I was already aware that he wasn’t one of the priests, his clothes were all wrong and his face! It seemed lifeless. I felt so heavy. My eyes didn’t want to obey me. Neither did my legs. Too late I realised the danger! Mesmerised, I fell asleep.
As if the list of things to avoid was not long enough, the minister of our small congregation was always preaching about how unworthy of God’s love we were. It seemed his favorite...
Johnson, Rev. George, Rev. Jerome D. Hannan, and Sister M. Dominica. The Story of the Church: Her Founding, Mission and Progress; A Textbook in Church History. Rockford: Tan Book and Publishers Inc., 1980.
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.
Love Yourself as Hearers. Above all, the preachers should consider first the audience or “hearers” when preparing a sermon. As stated in this book, “we need to learn how to introduce, develop, and conclude our subjects in a way that interests hearers” (Galli and Larson, 1994, p. 16). In other words, we need to learn how to modify our words, sentences, paragraphs, stories and illustrations to deliver the message and impact the lives of our audience.
In the early summer mornings, when the sunshine is young and playful, inside the church another realm is born. Sitting in the back rows one can see a heavenly mist flowing though the windows and filling the sleepy altar with life and hope. It is a different dimension in the breast of an unsuspecting world. Moments such as these bring you joy and reassurance and also show you that there really is someone out there: your soul is elevated, your mind is thirsty for new experiences and your body is strengthened.
It is important for a pastor to know the nature of the situation that he is preaching. Different events, like funerals and weddings, call for a different style of preaching. After this, McDill talks about having an effective presentation. The writer of the book thinks this is best done when a speaker preaches without notes. Right before finishing the book the author deals with the design of the sermon, this is the process of shaping a sermon to fit its purpose.
His church is a “good sized” suburban church that has been around for 295 years. He describes the parishioners as having a “broad tent” of theological views. This congregation is open to new ideas and re-visiting the old. They appear to be carrying out intentional missional work in their community
As a young child, I spent Sundays in the pews of various churches. My extended family had a wide variety of different denominations of Christianity. Some churches had loud music with singing and dancing, others lots of sitting and standing. But the