The Church as a Community and the Church as an Institution - Essay Example

In the church as a community there is love and caring for all the members of the church, but on the church, as an institution love and caring is lost to the achievement of its believed mission. Practices within the church as a community through love and care look to build up each member of the community. This is essentially through the greater focus of sharing the resources within the community to build every member of the community. In the church as an institution, the building up of the individual through love, care, and sharing is lost. Instead, the resources are used to build the institution called the church. The concentration of practices is on an increasing number of individuals that are members. This means there will be greater emphasis on activities on the show of the religion, as an increase in the visibility of prayer and hymns to the world, as against the activities of caring, in a community like charity and service of the community. Building of churches, expansion of parishes, and growth of the church would be the more prominent practices in the church as an institution, instead of practices aimed at the building up of each member, when the church is a community. (2).

2. Give the meaning of sacrament as it applies to the church.

            Providing a simple meaning to the concept of the sacrament to the church is not easy, for it is a very significant aspect of the Christian church. It can be looked upon as the receiving of the greatest gift of Divine Grace, restoring it when it is lost, or increasing it, depending on the sacrament. (3). The sacraments offer in them celebrations relating to Christian celebration, Christian life, and Christian hope. The meanings associated with these sacraments lie in the past, present, and future providing the import to these celebrations. This makes sacraments no ordinary celebrations, but occasions to remember and experience the saving presence of God. This makes it important for receiving the sacraments to be accepted in a meaningful manner. The sacraments are the means to remember and celebrate several elements of the Divine grace. These elements include sacraments that celebrate the life of Christ, sacraments that celebrate the life of the Christian community, and sacraments that celebrate the Kingdom of God. Baptism offers a remembrance of the life of Christ, in his baptism, and how he drew the Christian community to him. The sacrament of communion is a reminder of the bonding of the Christian community in the receiving of God’s Divine presence and the strengthening of the Christian community through the receipt of this divine presence of God. The Holy Eucharist also is a reminder of the Christian hope that through the final Reckoning, everlasting peace and happiness will be restored on earth. (4).