christian practices

• Worship

  Worship is used to describe the various ways religious people feel about and act towards God. Christians believe worship is two way and that through it, they can communicate with God
• Types of worship

  • Communal
  • Liturgical
  • Non-liturgical
  • Charismatic
• Communal worship

  • In a church service, in a group
• Liturgical worship

  • Formal worship often led by a priest with set readings/songs/prayers
  • Most common in Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox churches
• Non-liturgical worship


  • Less formal worship in which there may be a nominated leader but anyone is free to speak and express themselves in a more spontaneous manner
  • More common in Quaker, Methodist and Baptist churches
• Charismatic worship


  • Emphasis on experiencing God/the Holy spirit rather than just reading/hearing about him
  • Common in Pentecostal churches
• Sacraments

  Known as “outward signs of inner grace” – these are outward markers/actions that show a person’s inner faith/feelings towards God. 
• Most other Churches emphasise Baptism and the Eucharist as sacraments.
• Baptism can be done as an infant or an adult. It marks the persons’ entry into the Christian church and represents a spiritual cleansing of sins.
• The Eucharist is the taking of bread and wine to remember Jesus at the last supper who instructed his disciples to “do this in remembrance of me.”
• A small minority of Christians do not believe in the traditional understanding of the Trinity.
•  In the Catholic church there are seven of these:

  • Baptism

  • Eucharist/Holy Communion

  • Confirmation 

  • Reconciliation/confession

  • Marriage

  • Holy Orders (for those becoming priests or monks/nuns)

   • Anointing the sick and dying
• Church


  The community of believers
• church


  The building where Christians worship
• Matthew 18:20: 'For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them'
• Roman Catholic rites of passage

  • Are sacraments
  • Include baptism
  • Confirmation
  • Marriage
• Rites of passage in Roman Catholicism

  • Baptism
  • Confirmation
  • Marriage
• Confirmation


  Practiced in Catholic, Orthodox, Church of England, and Methodists
• Confirmation confirms their own personal pain and belief after having been baptized as a younger person
• John 8:31-32: 'Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free'
• Christians believe marriage is a gift from God and a lifelong commitment
• Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: 'Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor'
• Catholic weddings


  • Marriage is a sacrament
  • Includes a nuptial mass: Eucharist + saying vows
• Orthodox weddings


  • Couples exchange rings at an engagement before the wedding
• Ecumenism is the work to unite Christians on Earth
• Ecumenism


  The work to unite Christians on Earth
• Ecumenical work


  • Understanding differences in belief
  • Reconciling past divisions
  • Carrying out activities together
• Ecumenical groups


  • The World Council of Churches
  • Churches Together movement
  • Tala community
  • Corrymeels community
• The World Council of Churches exists to try to bring about the visible unity of Christians
• First Martyrs


  The people who died in the period of early Christian persecution by the Catholic Church
• Early Christians were persecuted in ancient Rome
• Emperor Nero blamed Christians for a large fire that killed many people in 64 CE
• More Christians have been murdered for their faith in the past century than at any other time in history
• Persecution


  Hostile treatment because of one's race or political or religious beliefs
• Martyr


  Someone who dies for their faith
• Christians who seek to evangelise and convert others may cause offence to people of other religions and therefore become targets of persecution
• Christians leading quiet lives may suffer from physical assault, their children not being allowed an education, and even losing their lives for refusing to follow the dominant religion of the area
• There is always a space for reconciliation and working together for God's world for the better
• Christians should be free to choose to worship God in any way they wish
• The unity of all people is something too perfect ever to achieve