Types And Peculiarities Of Christian Church

Introduction

The place of worship that we visited and that will be the main focus of this task is known as ‘Seaford Christian Churches’. Within this space of worship, there are 5 denominations of Christianity. One catholic church congregates here whilst the other 4 are protestant, these include, Uniting Church, Church of Christ, Lutheran and Anglican. Often these churches are defined as Ecumenical, the definition for this as Merriam-Webster state “promoting or tending toward worldwide Christian unity or cooperation” The church has recently changed it’s named as it allows for the general public to have a better awareness of what the church consists of.

Christianity

Describe how the sacred building layout helps worshippers encounter God.

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Place Order

The main sections in the two worship areas allow the worshippers from many denominations encounter God in various ways. The first reason as to how the main areas bring the worshippers closer to God is seen in the bigger congregation area, in the main area, there are certain symbols which bring the worshippers closer. These symbols include the colour of the linen in the background as well as the alter and the cross. In the baptistry, these symbols are still present, additionally, the baptistry has a pool for baptisms. All of these symbols are certain reasons as to how the main sections in the two worship areas encounter and gain a deeper connection with God. The worship spaces don’t differ much from each other as opposed to being compared with a traditional church. The areas are much more inclusive in the sense that they are a much more open area allowing people from the public to join in on the service if they feel obligated to. As well as this they have things that other churches may not, they are built in a circular fashion, this being compared to the traditional rectangular shape of a church. The large worship space is representative of the Centre’s aim to be inclusive and accessible to the denominations which partake in worshipping there through having easily maneuverable objects. By this, it means that if a particular denomination has something that they use in their service they can move it in and out in time for the next service. This allows inclusivity to be active within the centre.

The different denominations sometimes have different beliefs and sometimes a different approach in their practices. The way that the Seaford Christian Churches accommodates this is by allowing the groups their freedom in that they give each denomination a different practising time (bar Uniting Church and Church of Christ who ‘work’ together). The church also accommodates to the different denominations by allowing the areas to be easily transformed, having lightweight items allows the people who are setting up the service to change the area in whatever way they choose for their service. The term sacrament is simply defined as ‘a religious ceremony or ritual, such as baptism or eucharist.’ For the Catholic community sacrament’s are described as sacred acts of divine institution which is fitting as they are all signs towards God and the individual opening their heart to God. For Lutherans, sacraments have a similar meaning. They believe that when they are properly administrated through the use of a physical component which is commanded by God they form a connection which cannot be broken. Baptism is supported by the Seaford Christian Churches through their Baptistry. In the Baptistry there is a pool of water. The pool of water can be used for baptisms in a variety of their Christian denominations. Being a pool of water it is used by those who partake in the practise of immersion as opposed to a general sprinkling of water over the forehead.

Christian Worldview

The church communities utilise the worship space not only for worship but they use it with the broader community. The use with the broader community includes; a music program for women and children every fortnight, holiday fun days for primary school children, local walking group ends in the cafe’ for a cup of coffee and as well as this each individual church have their own social events. Along with these various things that they provide for the community through the use of the cafe’, at times they provide food for those who cannot pay for a meal and for this reason the meals are extremely cheap and the cafe’ is a non for profit organisation within the church. The needs of the community have drastically changed overtime. The needs of the community now are things such as food help and to find a sense of community for people who are new to the area. Years ago the needs may have been different, people who found the church may have been looking for a reason in their life if they felt that they weren’t ‘succeeding’ in whatever they were previously doing.