Christian Practices

• The Church


  The holy people of God, also called the Body of Christ, among whom Christ is present and active; or a building in which Christians worship
• Food banks


  • Non-perishable foods are donated by churches and care professionals issue food vouchers
  • The Church has become involved in projects that help the local community, such as food banks, and aim to end poverty and hunger
• The religious season celebrating the resurrection of Jesus


  It starts on Easter Day and finishes with the feast of Pentecost
• Street Pastors


  • Christian volunteers provide a reassuring presence in the community
  • The aim is to challenge gang culture, but also to respond to drunkenness and anti-social behaviour
  • They care for vulnerable people e.g. giving out flip-flops
• Mission


  • The vocation or calling of a religious organisation or individual to go out into the world and spread their faith
  • This is known as the Great Commission, Jesus' instruction to his followers that they should spread his teachings to all the nations of the world
• Evangelism


  Spreading the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness
• Reconciliation


  • A sacrament in the Catholic Church; also, the restoring of harmony after relationships have broken down
  • E.g. Irish Churches Peace Project brings Catholics and Protestants together to develop peace and understanding between them
• Persecution


  Hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race, or political or religious beliefs
• Poverty


  The complete lack of the means necessary to meet basic personal needs, such as food, clothing and shelter
• Worship


  Acts of religious praise, honour or devotion
• Liturgical worship


  • A church service that follows a set structure or ritual
• Non-liturgical worship


  • A service that doesn't follow a set text or ritual
• Prayer


  Communicating with God silently or through words of praise, thanksgiving or confession, or requests for God's help or guidance. (via set or informal prayers)
• The Lord's Prayer


  The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to show them how to pray, during the Last Supper
• Infant baptism


  • The ritual through which babies become members of the Church, when promises are taken on their behalf by adults; infant is freed from sin and introduced to the saving love of God and the support of the Christian community
• Believer's baptism


  • Initiation into the Church, by immersion in water, of people old enough to understand the ceremony and willing to live a Christian life
• Holy Communion


  A service of thanksgiving in which the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus are celebrated using bread and wine; also called Eucharist, Mass, The Lord's Supper, the Breaking of Bread, and the Divine Liturgy
• Pilgrimage


  A journey by a believer to a holy site for religious reasons; itself is an act of worship
• Christmas


  The day commemorating the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus; also, the season ending with the Epiphany (when Christians remember the visit of the wise men)
• The sacraments are the means by which God's grace is communicated to us.