The Christian place of worship is called church which means “gathering of people”. Those who gather come together in name – and in spirit – to worship in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Churches can be home churches, a building labelled church, or a majestic cathedral. All serve the same purpose, to hear the gospel, to have communion in the assembly, and to sing songs of praise to the Lord Jesus.
We hope over time to include different personal responses from within these traditions to illustrate the diversity of views. We hope this resource will be particularly helpful to those whose school is located in an area where there a few examples of different places of worship.
Christian Place of Worship – The Church
Christians go to church on Sunday because it is regarded as the ‘Lord’s Day’, the day on which Jesus was resurrected.
Paul, in his letters or epistles in the New Testament in the Bible, developed the idea of the Christian community as the ‘body of Christ’ . Christians saw this as an explanation for the way the church should develop. So historically, Christians have churches for these sorts of reasons. But also, Christians go to Church simply to accept that there is a God and that worshipping God is important, that the life and teaching of Jesus can be best expressed in worship, and that through the people you meet in church the way you act in the world is important. So you worship – through hymns, prayers, and certain rituals like the Eucharist or Holy Communion, and you act kindly and in Christian love to others around you in church and in the community of the world.
Singing is a great way to express your feelings, whether at a football match or in church: we don’t sing enough really, because we learn words and truths much better by remembering the tune (how many pop song words do they know but cannot remember how to spell words?). We sing to God to tell Him what we believe, feel, hope for, and to express our love and gratitude.
Almost everything! They can be serious, slow songs expressing our sorrow at wrongdoing; they can be prayers for God’s help; they can be praises thanking God; they can remind us of truths about God.
Personally, I go to church for prayer and worship usually once a week, though I may attend other events at church during the week, therefore I worship more at home – being in church does give opportunities not available at home though, such as holy communion or the sermon.
I do go to church, so I worship there. Every day I start by going to a room at home by myself to read the Bible, reflect on what it is saying and pray, so that is also worship.
We pray together as a family, especially at meals and I pray throughout my day at all kinds of times – for instance when driving, walking the dog or when someone has a problem or I just feel like it!
The Bible word for worship is the word for work, so worship can be thought of as everything a Christian does for God, which, if you think about it, is everything!
I do my best at work, care for our family, share, give, help others – even taking care of ourselves by resting is an act of worship done for the glory of God.
Contrary to what a lot of people might say, it is very hard to be a Christian and not attend church, or at least be with a group of people who have similar beliefs to yourself. Through church attendance you learn about your faith, you learn about the Bible, you see people going through rites of passage like baptisms and weddings, you learn how to pray better, and so on. So, I attend one of my local Churches on a Sunday and I enjoy the Eucharistic worship that is offered there, especially when it is a sung service. You can find out about the Eucharist perhaps? This Christmas I was in Canada and attended a small mission church on Christmas Day on an island near Vancouver. Some of the service books were written in the Inuit language. This experience gave me a real insight into the worldwide phenomenon that Christianity is.
