christianity practices

• Worship


  Acts of religious praise, honour or devotion
• What is worship?


  any action that shows devotion or love to God.
• Why are these sacraments significant to these denominations?


  For Protestants, baptism and the Eucharist are sacraments. All four of the gospels mention Jesus carrying out both of these acts.

  Many Christians believe that baptism is important because Jesus was baptised, and after his resurrection he told his disciples that they should be baptised too.
• Liturgical Worship


  A church service that follows a set structure or ritual
• What is liturgical worship?


  Liturgical worship is worship that follows a set pattern, eg the Lord's Prayer or the Eucharist service
• How is Quaker worship different from Liturgal Worship


  Quaker worship is often silent / in contrast to charismatic worship or liturgical worship, where worshippers might exercise the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues
• Non-Liturgical Worship


  A service that does not follow a set text or ritual
• Informal Worship


  A type of non-liturgical worship, sometimes 'spontaneous' or 'charismatic' in nature
• Private Worship


  When a believer praises or honours God on his or her own
• Importance of Private Worship


  Private worship might focus on prayer and meditation / contrasting (for example) with worship in the family through saying grace at meals / having bedtime prayer with children / and by Bible study in small groups. Private worship which may involve only one individual and no set form of worship may be contrasted with public worship involving people joining together as a community and often a set order, etc.
• why is prayer important?


  It enables communication with God so that Christians can feel comforted and listened to.
• Prayer


  Communicating with God, either silently or through words of praise, thanksgiving or confession, or requests for God's help or guidance.
• Set Prayers


  Prayers that have been written down and said more than once by more than one person, for example the Lord's Prayer.
• Informal Prayer


  Prayer that is made up by an individual using his or her own words
• Which of these describe a Quaker meeting house?


  A Quaker meeting house is a quiet place where people sit in silence in a circle. There are no set hymns or leader and people contemplate.
• Nonconformist


  An English Protestant who does not conform to the doctrines or practices of the established Church of England
• Sacraments


  Rites and rituals through which the believer receives a special gift of grace; for Catholics, Anglicans and many Protestants, sacraments are 'outward signs' of 'inward grace
• Baptism


  The ritual through which people become members of the Church; baptism involves the use of water as a symbol of the washing away of sin
• what does baptising do


  Cleanses original sin.
• Believers' Baptism


  Initiation into the Church, by immersion in water, of people old enough to understand the ceremony/rite and willing to live a Christian life. Some denominations prefer this to infant baptism. This form of baptism contains many similarities to the baptism of Jesus.
• Why is believers baptism important?


  It is done using total immersion, where the person being baptised walks down into a pool and is fully submerged three times before walking out into their new life. Cleanses sin, become whole and accept Jesus as Lord as your own.Some Christians prefer believers' baptism because Jesus was baptised as an adult and because, as an adult, you are able to make decisions for yourself.
• Which denomination disagree with infant baptism and why?


  Baptists and Pentecostals believe baptism should only occur once somebody is an adult, as it is then that the individual can accept Christianity for themselves. This type of baptism is called believers' baptism.
• Infant Baptism


  The ritual through which babies and young children become members of the Church, where promises are taken on their behalf by adults; the infant is freed from sin and introduced to the saving love of God and the support of the Christian community
• Why is infant baptism important?


  Some believe cleanses children from original sin from Adam and Eve and the inner urge to sin removed from a baby. Some Christians believe baptism makes a Christian a member of God's family. In many denominations babies are baptised, and this is known as infant baptism.

  For Orthodox Christians, infant baptism involves total immersion. However, other denominations make the sign of the cross on the baby's head using oil and use holy water on the forehead.
• what other elements of infant baptism are there?


  There are other elements to a baptism service, including promises made by godparents on behalf to the child to reject evil. In addition, at the end of the ceremony the priest gives a lit candle to the child's guardians to keep for the child, which symbolises receiving the light of Christ.
• Holy Communion (Eucharist)


  A service of thanksgiving in which the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus are celebrated
• Eucharist


  From the Greek for "thanksgiving"; also called the Mass or Lord's Supper. It is the principal sacramental celebration of the Church, established by Jesus at the Last Supper, in which the mystery of salvation through participation in the sacrificial Death and glorious Resurrection of Christ is renewed and accomplished.
• How do Non-confirmists Churches celebrate Eucharist


  Communion set out on a communion table - not an altar, minister or designated lay person may lead the communion service. Usually two Bible readings. An open table - anyone who wishes to can take communion, including children (do not need to be confirmed or in church membership) many different ways of serving communion - standing round the table, kneeling at the front rail of a church, served in the pews to the seated congregation etc. Creed not routinely said. Sometimes bread is cut up before the service, sometimes broken in the service. Congregation might serve each other as it is passed round. Wine is often non-alcoholic, often distributed in small cups, though often a chalice on the communion table.
• What are the general beliefs regarding Holy Communion(Eucharist)


  Belief 1 - Catholics believe that the bread and the wine become the actual flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. This belief is known as transubstantiation.

  Belief 2 - Some Christians believe that the Holy Communion is a re-enactment or commemoration of the Last Supper. The bread and wine are seen as symbolic of Jesus' death.

  Belief 3 - Baptists believe the bread and wine are symbols that can be used to bring people together as a community. They use non-alcoholic wine and the bread is offered from person to person.

  Belief 4 - Orthodox Christians believe that Jesus is mystically present in the bread and wine.

  Belief 5 - Church of England Christians believe that the bread and wine hold the spiritual presence of the body and blood of Jesus but do not become it.

  Belief 6- Protestant Cristians recite the divine liturgy
• Why is Holy Communion important to Catholics and Orthodoxs


  Catholics and Orthodox Christians, who place more importance on the bread and wine than other denominations, hold Eucharists more often than other denominations, such as Methodists. This is because they see it as an essential way of sustaining their relationship with God.

  Catholics are given bread by the priest and wine from a shared cup, whereas Orthodox Christians take the bread and wine from the same spoon.
• What do Orthodox Christians believe about the bread and wine?


  Jesus is mystically presnt in it
• Transubstantiation


  Catholic belief that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ.
• Pilgrimage


  A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes.Pilgrimage is not compulsory in Christianity, but many Christians choose to undertake journeys to holy sites to be healed or to deepen their connection with God.
• Purpose of Iona as a Pilgrimage Site


  pilgrimage to Iona: it is a small island which is quiet and peaceful/ pilgrims go there for many different reasons, some of them personal/they spend time praying and studying the Bible together in the quietness/it is easy for them to be alone if they want to, even if they go there with a group/it does not get crowded except in some of the old buildings which people like to visit/they like to remember the saints of the past who lived and prayed there, eg St Columba, etc
• What is the Significance of Iona


  Iona is a quiet island in Scotland where a monastery was built by Columba, a monk. It is often visited by pilgrims.

  Christians go there to study the Bible and pray, which may lead to spiritual growth. People often feel that they benefit from having their lives redirected or feel that they learn something about themselves while in Iona. This can allow Christians to face the challenges of life back at home in a different way.
• Explain two contrasting ways in which pilgrimage is experienced at Lourdes

  One contrasting way is that Some go to drink or bathe in the water of the spring in the hope of a miraculous cure / others go to be cleansed from sin / to confess their sins. Another contrasting way is that • Some go to pray at a holy site / others go simply to feel the religious atmosphere. • Some go to pray the rosary (Bernadette said that she had prayed the rosary
• Festival


  A day or period of celebration for religious reasons
• Christmas


  The day commemorating the incarnation, the birth of Jesus (25 December in most churches); also, the season of 12 days ending with the Epiphany (when Christians remember the visit of the wise men)Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem and laid him in a manger. There, according to the gospels narratives, he was visited by kings and shepherds who had heard about his birth.
• Why is Christmas important?


  Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, as told in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. The festival of Christmas does not fall on Jesus' actual birthday, and different denominations celebrate it on different dates. Protestant and Catholic Christians celebrate Christmas on 25 December, while Orthodox Christians celebrate it on 6 January.
• Religious significance of Christmas

  Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, the Saviour and Founder of the Faith / without Jesus' birth there would be no Christian faith, so Christmas is the most important Christian celebration. • 'Christmas' is 'Christ Mass', Mass being the Eucharist/Holy Communion where Christians remember that Christ died for the sins of humanity and was resurrected by God / so Christmas includes the main theme of Easter - resurrection - so it is the most important celebration. • Christmas celebrates the birth of the Messiah, believed by Christians to be the 'Prince of Peace' prophesied by Isaiah, so it celebrates the fulfilment of prophecy / it also celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, believed by Christians to be prophesied in Micah 5:2. • Christmas also celebrates the incarnation of God / this has deep meaning for Christians because Jesus was born as a human, by which God understands what it is like to have human needs and human frailties / what it is like to suffer and die