Religion Presentation

[meiko_matsui]

Pastor Jeff says... "Our church's philosophy is...we want to BE the church, not GO to church. We want to be a church on the road, picking up people along the way who need to be picked up. We want to make a difference in the world so that if we ceased to exist people would notice."

I chose to visit here because my neighbors attend here and I wanted to explore their religion: Dutch Reformism.







"We meet in a gym because that is the school that we adopted and partner with to do mission in our community."

They used to meet in a church, but funding got low and they needed to move to the school.




"We celebrate the church year in our church. Each season of the church year has colors that correspond to it. Right now we are in the green season, so our table in the center is green."

Other colors include:
-White (Easter & Christmas)
-Red (Passion Sunday, Good Friday, and Apostles birthdays)
-Green (Ordinary Time)
-Violet/Purple (Advent)
-Rose (Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, and on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday)

Source: http://www.cyberfaith.com/liturgical_year.cfm




"The cross is a symbol that reminds us of Jesus' work for us and the grace we can receive through Him."







Rituals/Activities Include:

• Communion
  
• Song
  
• "We use liturgy* during our worship to help us participate in the worship together." -- Pastor Jeff
  
• Service Day ; "We take every second Sunday and go out and serve our community." -- Pastor Jeff
  
• Guest speakers
  

This is Carlos Smith, an ex-convict who spoke about his experience, and how he found God.




Some other questions I asked Pastor Jeff:
Why do people attend your church? What does it offer that others do not?

"People attend our church because it feels like a family and because of our emphasis on serving the world."

What is your religion's 'absolute'?

"Jesus is the only way to be saved. He is the center of our faith. Our goal is to Walk in Jesus' Way"

What is your religion's 'holy'?

"Our holy is what we stand for instead of what we stand against."

What is your religion's 'ultimate'?

"Our ultimate is to give our lives for this movement that Jesus called us to live within."

Conclusion:

The entire ordeal was very surreal. Throughout the service I attended people held up their hands as they sang and listened to the pastor preach. I didn't know what to expect when I asked my neighbors if I could attend a mass. Overall, I got the impression that this congregation is very close nit with each other, their community, and their God.