Christianity: practices

• Why do Christian worship?

  • To praise and thank God.
  • To ask for forgiveness.
  • To seek God's help for themselves or others.
  • To deepen their relationship with God and strengthen their faith.
• Different forms of worship

  • Liturgical worship.
  • Non - Liturgical worship.
  • Informal worship.
• Why is prayer important?

  • Encourages reflection in the middle of a busy life.
  • Enables Christians to talk and listen to God.
  • Helps Christians keep a close relationship with God.
  • Helps Christians to accept God's will even if it means suffering.
  • Gives a sense of peace.
  • Gives strengths in times of trouble.
• The sacraments

  • Baptism
  • Holy Communion
  • Holy Orders
• Through Baptism a person...

  • Imitates Jesus' baptism.
  • Becomes a member of the church.
  • Becomes a child of God.
  • Receives God's saving grace and the Holy Spirit.
  • Is cleansed of sin.
  • Enters a new life with Christ.
• Infant Baptism

  • Removes the original sin.
  • Allows the child to be welcomed into the church as soon as possible.
  • The parent can thank God for the new baby.
• Believer's baptism

  • People should be old enough to make the decision.
  • The decision to live a life dedicated to Jesus is what saves a person, not the baptism itself.
• The meaning of Holy Communion

  • Catholics, Orthodox Christians and some Anglicans believe the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. This means Jesus is fully present in the bread and wine.
  • Protestant Christians celebrate Holy Communion as a reminder of the Last Supper. they do not believe the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. Instead they are sybols of Jesus' sacrifice.
  • 'For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the lord's death until he come.'
• The impact of Holy Communion

  Communities

  • Brings them together.
  • This can provide support and encouragement for those going through a difficult time.

  Individuals

  • Christians receive God's grace.
  • This helps strengthen their faith
  • They become closer to God.
• Pilgrimage

  • A journey made by a believer to a holy site for religious reasons.
• Why go on a pilgrimage

  • Grow closer to God
  • Strengthen faith in God.
  • Be forgiven for sin.
  • Reflect on one's life.
  • Pray for someone special.
  • Thank God for a blessing.
  • Seek a cure for illness.
  • Experience a holy place.
  • Meet others who share the same faith.
• How can a pilgrimage impact a Christians life:

  • Give them a better understanding of their faith.
  • Renew their enthusiasm for living a Christian life.
  • Help them see problems in a new light.
  • Helps them feel cleansed from sin.
  • Helps them to feel more connected to the community.
• Lourdes

  Significance

  • Where Mary is said to have appeared in a number of visions to a young girl called Bernadette.
  • Mary told Bernadette to dig in the ground, and when she did a spring of water appeared.
  • The water is claimed to have healing properties.

  Activities

  • Pilgrims go to Lourdes to bathe in the waters of the spring, or to help other pilgrims who are ill or disabled to bathe.
  • Pilgrims also pray for healing or forgiveness.
  • They may recite the rosary together.
• Iona

  Significance

  • Where St Columba established a monadtic community in the 6th century.
  • The community now has an ecumenical centre where pilgrims can stay.

  Activities

  • Because it is quiet, peaceful and a place of natural beauty, pilgrims can spend time praying, reading the Bible and reflecting or meditating.
  • Pilgrims can also attend services in the abbey church, take part in workshops and visit the island's holy and historic sites.
• Christmas

  • Celebrates Jesus' birth.
  • Lights - represent Jesus as the light coming into the world of darkness.
  • Nativity scenes - show baby Jesus born into poverty.
  • Christmas cards and gifts - recall the wises men's gifts to Jesus.
  • Christians give to charity.
• Easter

  • Celebrates Jesus rising from the dead.
  • Holy week - remembers the events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion.
  • Good Friday - the day Jesus was crucified.
  • On Saturday - some churches hold a special service to celebrate Christ's resurrection.
  • Easter Sunday - churches are filled with flowers and special hymns are sung. Services are held at sunrise, and share breakfast including eggs to symbolise new life.
  • 'Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death from death, and upon those in tombs bestowing life.'
• What does the Church do

  The individual Churches:

  • Educate people about Christianity.
  • Are meeting places for prayer and worship.
  • Provide activities for younger people.
  • Are places where Christians can socialise and obtain spiritual guidance.

  The Church:

  • Supports local projects such as food banks.
  • Provides social services such as schooling and medical care.
  • Helps those in need.
  • Campaigns for justice.
• The Trussell Trust

  • A charity running over 400 food banks in the UK.
  • These provide emergency food, help and support to people in crisis in the UK.
  • Non-perishable food is donated by churches, supermarkets, schools, businesses and individuals.
  • Doctors, health visitors and social workers identify people in crisis and offer them a food voucher.
  • Their aim is to bring religious and non-religious people together to help end poverty and hunger.
• The Oasis Project

  • A community hub run by Plymouth Methodist Mission Circuit.
  • Provides a internet café, creative courses, a job club, training opportunities, a meeting place and a food bank.
  • Spiritual and practical help is given to those in need because of ill health, learning disabilities, domestic violence, substance abuse, low income and housing problems.
• The importance of helping the local community

  • Jesus taught that Christians should help others by showing love towards them.
  • 'Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
• Street Pastors

  • An initiative started in London in 2003, by the Christian charity the Ascension Trust.
  • Adult volunteers are trained to patrol the streets in urban areas.
  • The main aim originally was to challenge gang culture and knife crime in London.
  • The focus the widened to responding to drunkenness, anti-social behaviour and fear of crime.
  • Street pastors work closely with police and local councils.
  • They listen to people's problems, advise on where they might get help and discourage anti-social behaviour.
• The great Commission

  • Jesus gave a Great Commission to his disciples to spread the gospel.
  • The aims of missionary work and evangelism are to persuade people to accept Jesus as their saviour and to extend the church to all nations.
  • 'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.'
• Ways Christians can spread the faith

  • Sharing what God has done for them and others.
  • Inviting people to Christian meetings, fellowship meals and social events.
  • Praying for others to accept God.
  • Advertising and using social media.
• Reconciliation

  • Restoring harmony after relationships have broken down.
  • It is an important part of the Church's work.
  • 'For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, hoe much more, having being reconciled, shall we be saved through this life.'
• What is persecution

  • Hostility and ill-treatment.
  • This might include:
  • Being forced to pay extra tax.
  • Job discrimination.
  • Being forbidden to build churches.
  • Attacks on Christians.
• I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of his resurrection and sufferings.: 'Christian'
• Positive effect of persecution


  Strengthens their faith
• If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.: 'Church'
• Importance of acting against persecution

  Helping individual Christians also helps the whole Church
• Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.: 'Christian'
• Christian response to persecution

  Respond to evil with love
• Christian aid

  • Supports projects to encourage sustainable development.
  • provides emergency relief, such as food, water, shelter and sanitation.
  • Campaigns to end poverty alongside organisations such as the Fairtrade Foundation, Trade Justice and Stop Climate Chaos.
• Tearfund

  • Works with over 90,00 Churches worldwide to help lift people out of poverty.
  • Supplies emergency aid after natural disasters and conflict.
  • Provides long-term aid to help communities become more self-reliant, such as education or new farming equipment.
  • Supported by donations, fundraising events and prayer from Churches in the UK.
• CAFOD

  • Works with local organisations to train, supply and support communities to work their way out of poverty.
  • Gives short-term aid such as food, water and shelter during conflicts and disasters.
  • Encourages Catholic schools and parishes to pray give money snd campaign for justice.