Religious observation - Assignment Example

Religious observation affiliation Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Religious Observation Exercise For this exercise, you are required to attend a religious service that is unfamiliar to you. It would be great if you could find at least one person to talk to (an informant) from the service in order to understand the service from an emic perspective. Please address the following questions:The Setting1. What kind of service did you attend? (If a Christian service, what denomination?) Christian service of Pentecostal denomination2.

Where was the service located and when did the service take place? At community Christian church building, located at 2647 Chili Ave., Rochester, NY 14624.3. In what kind of building was the service conducted ? Describe the setting.The service was conducted in the Christian church building, which is depicting a Gothic style building made of rocks and bricks. The building has been refurbished to depict the current modern building style.The Group/Congregation4. Describe the group composition in terms of gender, age, whether they were together as families or couples, or aloneThe congregation consisted of both genders across all age group.

Families and couples were seen sited together perhaps because of love and companionship, but this was not the case for all people in the church. I noted that female gender were many compared to the male gender.5. Were congregants segregated by gender or age? No, both male and female gender were sited together in a row, meaning that there was no segregation in the church.6. Was the service well attended? The service was packed with believers to almost being full since there were just some few chairs that were empty.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the church was well attended.7. What was the composition of the clerical staff (were they men, women, children?) The clergy composed of both men and women led by Rev. Steven Price who is the serving pastor8. What kinds of jobs or activities were conducted by members of the clerical staff?The clerical staff conducted activities such as leading the service mass, administrative matters of church, playing an organ and directing choir.9. Were there individuals and associated activities that were unclear to you or was it easy to understand the roles of the clerical staff?

Some post as church administrator was not well clear to me and I needed more explanation to understand the roles of this staff post.The Service10. What language(s) was used during the service? English was used during the service11. How long was the service? The service took two hours12. Was there music? If so, what kind? There was gospel music sang by adult choir, which well orchestrated composing of guitar, flutes, drum set and saxophone. 13.Were there prayers? If so, what was said and who said them?

Two people made prayers from the congregation who prayed for the peace to prevail in the country and entire world as well as the families. The clergy and the pastor who led the service made other prayers.14. What kinds of rituals did you observe? What was their meaning?There were some rituals performed specifically during Holy Communion, whereby grape juice and a small white piece of bread was administered to the congregation. Prayers were made before taking the Holy Communion, in which the pastor led the congregation in reciting some rhythmical prayers.

I was told that the Eucharist had a meaning since they remembered the death of Jesus Christ because of their sins. Therefore, when they take it they repent and the “blood” washes their sins (Nicholas, 2002).15. What kinds of symbols were used? What was their meaning?Bread symbolized the body of Jesus Christ while the grape Juice symbolized the blood of Jesus that was shed during crucification. 16. What was the central message of the service? The service was centralized in repentance and holiness.

Christians were being urged to repent their sins and focus o do the right things that pleases God.17. Was the cleric successful at communicating that message? What methods did he or she use in order to accomplish this? The cleric was successful in delivering the message; he used the bible and provided various current life examples that challenged the congregation to change from their unfaithful behaviors to good behaviors that uplift Jesus name. 18. What was the response of the congregation to the central message and the service in general?

The preaching moved the congregation and most of them were able to confess their sins and turn to walk in the Lords path.Your Experience19. How did you respond to the service? Did you feel comfortable and welcome there? I was welcomed at the gate and provided with the necessary directions since I introduced myself as a visitor. I felt uneasy for the first few minutes because I was not aware of their doctrines, however, I later coped with the situation.20. What did you like about it, or not like about it?

I liked the way the receiving staffs were concerned with welcoming visitors and giving them the necessary help. Moreover, the sermon was generally good and faith lifting. 21. Was there anything that you didn’t understand? I did not understand some of prayers the congregation was reciting.22. What did you learn?I learned that every faith-based organization has its own style of worship and fellowship but all in a common goal of serving God or the supernatural being.ReferenceNicholas, R. A. (2002).

The Eucharist as the center of theology: A comparative study. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.