Visit Paper on Religious Sites - Essay Example

A visit to church In this theology and religion essay, I was supposed to give doctrinal, ritual,religious and emotional experiences after visiting three religious sites. When I visited the church service, there were about 40 people present. Congregants were dressed normal. The preacher was dressed in semi-formal attire. In front of the church was a wooden cross. The cross appeared to be stack on the wall of the church, behind the seat of the moderator. The position of the cross ensured that it was the image seen most. The cross did not have Jesus on it. The scriptures that were read came from the Bible. The people attending the service without the bible were assisted with one. The provision of the Holy bible made it easy to follow along the service. The bible had no symbols on it. The church had a lot of images that were noticeable during the service. The sitting arrangement and the position of the pulpit were different from the one on musicians’ corner. The priest sat at the center of the church in front of the Isle. Behind the priest were elderly men and women who occasionally consulting with other officials. The ushers are charged with the responsibility of welcoming visitors and directing them to the vacant seats. Each bench has a number of hymns which appeared to belong to the church. Ushers were busy mopping the seats and placing the bibles and hymn books before the service began. A groups of leaders converged in the vestry where the service was planned. The form of worship was engaging and entertaining. Different songs that worship God were sung. The pianist and other instrumentalists appeared to direct the congregation in playing the music. A group of young men were using displaying the events of the service through Laptop and projector. This meant that songs were displayed on a large screen in front of the congregation. As a result, the congregation was able to sing along (Woodward, 29). You could tell the extent of commitment through the observation. Some had memorized most of the songs. At some point in time some announcements were made. The children have a simple but lovely choir which a soloist. The church had two formal bible leadings done by two different readers (Moore, 59). The readings were also displayed on the screen through the electronic Bible. It was noticeable that the same readings existed in a small brochure given to the congregants upon entry. In the brochure, the name of the preacher was written and the theme of the topic. There were a number of brief singing sessions. The mode of worship demanded that people conduct deep thought through slow but rich music popularly called worship music. After worship long leader conducted the songs. Some people knelt, while others just sat on the seats. However, others remained standing. There were mummers across the congregation as some attempted to pray in soft but audible tones (Moore, 59). Initially, it was really weak but grew stronger am more prayers were made. Some people looked emotional and literary broke down. Others never seemed to have an idea what was happening. Many seemed to be praying through closing eyes and being in deep thought. All this happened simultaneously. After the session of prayer, a lead singer appeared to call people to attention through a song. The most of the congregation stopped praying and joined in singing the song (Armstrong, 41). Then a prayer was made in unison. The prayer appeared to be entirely dependent on the intercessor. He was not referring to any script but addressed some of the contemporary issues facing the society. The prayer was directed to God through Jesus Christ as a source of Help. At some point the congregation was asked to stand and recite the Apostles’ Creed. This is a piece of text which is perceived to be the cornerstone of the Christian faith. The devote members of the Christian faith were supposed to recite the proclamation of faith through the apostles creed. The preacher had a designated place while preaching. The doctrine of the Christian faith is based on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ gave a promise to His believers concerning empowerment from the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:7, 8 New International Version). The doctrine says that water baptism in a must in order to become a follower of God. The secret texts in the church suggested that salvation is by grace and not by work. Therefore, faith in Jesus is the reason for reconciliation with God. It was easy to notice the reference of grace constantly made in the course of the service. The Holy Bible says that just as believers and flowers of Jesus were freely forgiven, they must reciprocate by forgiving others. This laid the foundation of the ethics that have been agreed upon in the church set up. Indeed people appeared unusually calm and controlled. Christians are taught to be forging, understanding and loving as part of the Christian ethics. In so doing, their Master is glorified (Woodward, 29). Baptism is the act of immersing the person in water after they accept the Christian doctrine or faith. It is done in fulfillment of the requirements of the Holy Bible (Armstrong, 41). It has also been accepted as part of the Christian faith. After water baptism, the faith is confirmed. Another ritual which is a principle pillar of the Christian faith is the Holy Communion. This is an act done in remembrance of the death of Jesus. It is also done to fulfill His command. The Holy Communion entails taking the bread and wine which symbolize the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. A visit to Buddhists temple Buddhists temples are a resemblance of the Asian architecture. The Buddhist temple is fashioned after the imperial palaces. Upon entering the front hall, I was encountered by four wooden images. Two are on each size. These images are considered to be the four heavenly kings. Their work is to guide the four directions of the hall. The hall is named after them. One is greeted at the entrance by a lovable and kind Buddha-to be. Behind the mi-lei-fwo, there is the great deva-wei-to. This is the projector of the faith and the Buddhist temples (Woodward, 29). He is seen to be holding a gnarled staff and adorned in full armor. The Wei-to is under the four heavenly kings. He is accorded the title of projector of Buddhists books. The main alter is found in the main alter. On the altar there was an image of Sakyamuni Buddha together with two of his disciples. These disciples are known as Ananda and mahakasyapa. The choice and appearance of the personages seemed to be very skillful. On the east and the west of the main hall were eighteen images known as Arhats. These images are said to posses various supernatural powers. The north hall contained the images of the Jan-teng Fwo who was said to have predicted the existence of the sakyamuni. The image of the protector of the Buddhism was present in the hall. In this alter, the Buddhists offer prayers and offerings in form of flowers, gifts and fruits. All these were placed in front of an altar. They are placed on a table set apart for that purpose (Wilkinson and Salazar, 19). The third back hall is separated into several other halls which are smaller than the main hall. The first hall is the altar of the Buddha. The right hall is for housing the funerary paraphernalia and tablets belonging to the founder of the temple. The left hall is for teaching and meditation. There are other rooms for the monks. The visit to the Buddhist temple produced a profound impression on a person. It is not necessary to be a devoted Buddhist in order to impress the supernatural beings in the temple. Rather, the external parts of the building prepared people to the perception of the spiritual connotation in the building. Upon entering the temple, it becomes easy to perceive the religious massage. The religious messages and the doctrines of the Buddhists are incorporated in the methods of worship in the temple. The images of the deity simple surround the visitor and instill a certain perception. The religious elements have a profound effect of the visitors. At the same time, the worshipers have a sacred attitude towards all the images in the hall. This forces the visitor to follow the example almost subconsciously. Those truly worshipping the Buddha radiated inspiration and a faithful commitment to this form of worship. The atmosphere was quite and calm. It looked voluntary and people knew what to do when they got into the temple. The images in the temple are placed as a message which is part of the ritual. It entails the form of worship in the Buddha temple. A Mosque The literal meaning of Islam is peace. The message is revealed through Prophet Muhammad. While visiting a mosque, it was easy to note that most men wore loose-fitting clothes. Women were wearing headscarves. I noticed that women and men offer prayers in separate rooms (Wilkinson and Salazar, 19). The women prayer room was behind the main hall and offered them the privacy they needed. One of the rituals of making prayers in the Islam religion is being in a state of physical purification. Therefore, the bathrooms were fitted with foot sinks for the worshipers to wash their feet. The worshippers were required to remove shoes before entering the main hall (Woodward, 29). This ensured that the carpet is not dirty since that is the place of worship. The people joining the prayers late had to complete what they missed. The leader of the prayer was known as Imam. One of the most notable aspects was the bright colors of the mosque (Wilkinson and Salazar, 19). From outside, the place was painted with bright colors. There was a dome on the roof of the building. The roof did not appear to be even. Inside the mosque was not a noisy place. I noticed that Friday is the day of congregation of the Muslim faithful. The service started at 1:455 pm. The service began with a call for prayers. This was followed by two brief lectures separated by a short pause. The lecture is called khutbah. After khutbah, there was another call to prayer. The congregation stood and followed the imam in the main prayer. The main hall was covered by lush oriental carpets. I sat in the back. The prayer leader used Arabic. It was easy to observe that men never came with Qurans, neither did I seen anyone taking notes. There were no religious formalities like communion. At the end of the service the congregant bowed in unison for some minutes. The doctrinal basis of the faith appeared to be fully guarded by the imams. I observed that worshipers of the opposite sex were not supposed to shake hands. Works Cited Armstrong, Karen. The Case for God. New York: Knopf, 2009. Print. Ganeri, Anita. Buddhism. Columbus, Ohio: Peter Bedrick Books, 2002. Print. Moore, Andrew. Realism and Christian Faith: God, Grammar, and Meaning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. Wilkinson, Philip, and Batul Salazar. Islam. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2002. Print. Woodward, Kenneth L. The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Print. Read More