Religion Visitation Essay, Research Paper

Throughout the world there are numerous forms of religion. These different types of religious practices are placed within two primary groups, Monotheism and Polytheism. Monotheism is defined as the belief that there is only one deity. And Polytheism is defined as the belief or worship of more than one God. Monotheistic beliefs such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are three of the most widely practiced religions through out the world. Polytheistic religions were at one point in time the most dominant form of religion. However, in today s society only two stand out, Hinduism and Buddhism.

I was born into the Baptist Church, which is monotheistic, and have been a Christian since the Sixth Grade. By growing up in the Baptist tradition, it is hard to take into consideration the beliefs and rituals of other religions. I have come to be secure with my ignorance towards other religious practices. Through this ignorance, I feel my beliefs and faith have been uninfluenced by the presence of outside religions. However, recently I attended a service at the Breezewood Church of God of Prophecy. Breezewood is considered a mainstream nondenominational church in Hope Mills North Carolina. I will be discussing four aspects dealing with my visit and observations of Breezewood Church. The first aspect I will discuss is how the service was conducted. The second aspect that I will discuss is the information that I received through an interview with several members of Breezewood. The third and final aspect I will be discussing is a contrast between my traditional Baptist beliefs and those beliefs of Breezewood Church of God of Prophecy and my overall opinion of the church.

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I decided to attend the Easter service that was held at Breezewood Church of God of Prophecy on April 15th, 2001. As I walked in through the front door, I noticed several features of my church were not found in Breezwood. There were no pianos, no organs, and no fixed denominational hem books found on the back of pews. Instead, a slightly elevated stage that contained a drum-set, guitars, and other electrical musical instruments. I quickly found a seat near the back of the church in one of the pews closest to the front door. Not knowing the service was going to start at 10:30am I arrived at 10:45 and had missed most of the mourning announcements. When I thought it was time for the service to take place, the lights began to dim and spotlights became the prominent source of lighting. Not knowing what was happening, my eyes became fixed on a man slightly covered in cloth that closely resembled my outward opinion of what Jesus would look like. As I quickly glanced at the bulletin, trying not to miss too much of what was taking place, I noticed that there wasn t going to be a service but a presentation of Witness to the Light. Witness to the Light retells the Passion Week story from the Gospel of John by integrating four elements: a choir concert of music; a biblical narrative; a pageantry of moving images showing key parts of the story and monologues from eyewitnesses to the event (bulletin). Although the performers of the skit were members of the congregation, the extent of their acting ability was far beyond the needs of a simple skit. Each Actor displayed great enthusiasm about his/her part and seemed engulfed with the spirit of their character. This helped to intrigue the audience by displaying a graphic depiction of Christ s crucifixion and resurrection.

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In one seen when the Roman Soldiers were forcing Christ s to carry his cross to Golgotha. The actors were screaming at Christ s character so forcefully that they frightened a little girl sitting a few pews in front of me. The play was graphic as well as realistic in every category. One example of the graphic details is found in a scene where the Roman Soldiers placed a crown of thorns onto Christ s head. This scene used paint to give the impression of blood poring off Christ s head. At the end of the play, I glanced around the silent congregation to see lights sparkling off the eyes of the audience.

After the play was over, I was able to sit and ask a few questions to one of the members of the church. Maria Thomas is a twenty-year-old sophomore at Fayetteville Tech. Community College in Fayetteville North Carolina. Although Maria has only been attending Breezewood for a few months, she opened up to me as if she had been a member there all her life. I prepared several questions that I had planned to ask the Pastor but failed to get the opportunity; however, instead I modified them and presented them to Maria. The first question I asked was what attracted her to Breezewood Church of God of Prophecy, and why she decided to attend on a regular basis? My mother had a friend who was a member and she invited us one Sunday. At first, I was kind of skeptical, but the service turned out to be wonderful. And afterwards, the members were willingly to talk to my mother and I, so, I have been attending ever sense stated Maria. The second question that I asked was what makes this church more appealing than other churches that she had attended? Maria replied be saying, by being a nondenominational

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church, Breezwood unlike Methodist, Baptist, and other denominational churches doesn t have to follow guidelines and traditions; therefore, focusing on the real reason why we are there to begin with, and that is to worship the Lord. In Breezwood, when we stand and sing, every one enjoys the songs. However, unlike in other churches that I have attended, singing hems is looked at sometimes like a burden, because you have to stand up and sing a song only gifted vocalist can sing . The third and last question I asked Maria was do you prefer the presentation of Witness to the Light over a traditional Easter service. She replied, I though the idea was great, the chance to see the story acted out is ten times more affective in getting the meaning of Easter across to the youth of the church. Not only does the youth enjoy it, but the adults as well.

After attending the Breezwood service, I noticed there were several huge distinctions between Breezwood and my simple, traditional, clean-cut Baptist Church in Oxford North Carolina. One difference was in how we dressed. The members of Mountain Creek Baptist Church range in age groups of babies to the elderly. Although the number of younger members of the church is on the rise, most of the member s ages are between forty-five and seventy-five. The dress code is primary set by the older generations, and that dress is suits or slacks with nice button shirts for men, and dresses for women. When I walked into Breezwood I noticed there was a more casual approach to how they dressed. Most of the younger members were in shorts and T-shirts. And half of the older members were in pants and a short-sleeve dress shirt while the other half had on suits, slacks, or less formal apparel. A second difference between Breezwood and my

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church is the overall appearance of the chapel. In Breezwoord, I noticed there wasn t a choir loft, pulpit, stained-glass windows, baptism pool, or offering table. Although all these examples were not present at Breezwood, the most unusual difference between the two churches was in how the songs were sung. In Breezwood, there weren t any hymnals, instead, when the congregation sang, they would follow along by use of an overhead projector.

In conclusion, by attending Breezwood Church of God of Prophecy, I have come to agree with Maria Thomas on her views about denominations and how they distract us from the true reason why we attend church. I was very moved by the presentation, and would recommend everyone to go. Although Breezwood s service wasn t done in the traditional fashion, it was still tasteful and achieved the goal it was designed to, which is relaying the true message of Easter. The three aspects of my observations were how the service was conducted, the interview with Maria Thomas, and the contrast between my traditional Southern Baptist Church and Breezwood Church of God of Prophecy. Through these three observations, I believe that I have learned the idea of denominational churches are only there for a traditional purpose, and have no relevance towards the worship of God. Before I attended Breezwood, I didn t want to venture to other religious services for the sole reason that I didn t want to have doubts about my own religious views. However, I see my ignorance towards other denominations as a weakness towards my faith and this ignorance has only left me closed minded.