The Presbyterian Experience

Religion

I researched the Presbyterian religion. The people of the Presbyterian church are

Protestants. They are bible centered people who live their lives around the scriptures and

make small changes to their worship as the world changes around them as well to make their

sharing of the gospel more effective. They act as a community and want to bind the people

around them together and learn to love each other. (ScFaith, 2017)

Religious Function

I attended a Sunday morning service along with my friend and her husband who both

regularly attend the First Presbyterian church where we live. The people there were very kind

and we were greeted by many people who knew my friends and others who just wanted to tell

us “good morning”. It was a calming experience for me. My life is normally very busy and on

the go. It was different to be able to sit down for an hour to listen to the pastor talk about

scriptures and different values. His preaching’s made me think and review what I thought

about when it came to religion. When the service was finished, everyone left the chapel and

went into the room attached to the chapel where they served some snacks and drinks. It was a

good experience. My favorite thing was how friendly everyone was towards each other. It

would be nice if everyone was like that.

Value Theory

My experience at the Presbyterian church can be applied to the value orientation

theory. The value orientation theory states that the group would answer questions such as:

“What is human nature? What is the relationship between humans and nature? What is the

relationship between humans? What is the preferred personality? What is the orientation

towards time?” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, pp. 99-107) These are questions that the

Presbyterians attempt to answer using the scriptures.

They value their community. They talk about how humans should love and support

each other in their communities. When it comes to human nature, they say all humans are

sinners but that they are saved through their faith in Jesus Christ and salvation by God. (ScFaith,

2017) They know they are wrong-doers but they are good people who are doing their best to be

forgiven. Presbyterians are following the second solution of the nature of human nature. They

also believe that relationships between humans should be loving. Presbyterians are people of

community and are “Attached together by bonds of love.” (ScFaith, 2017)

They model themselves after acts that people performed in the scriptures. This covers

the question of, “What is the preferred personality?”. They want to perform as people in the

past have, they believe this will give them the best results as a human being so that they can

connect with others and share their beliefs.

Analysis

I could see the value orientation theory clearly in my experience at the Sunday morning

service. The pastor would often talk about their values, community, and love for each other as
well as God. There was even a part in the service where everyone stood up and shook hands to

say good morning. They talked about scriptures and how people should act in situations using

examples from the scriptures as models to follow. Their values and how they should act as

human beings were clearly being discussed. They even had children come before the alter

where the pastor said a small prayer for them to do well in school for the year.

Reflection

I enjoyed my experience at the Presbyterian church. It was interesting to sit in on a

different culture other than my own and have them quickly accept me. I learned a great

amount about this religion because of this project. I didn’t know that they valued community

so much even though it was very evident now that I look back at the service. I admire their

values and how they want everyone to live peacefully together and adapt their faith to the

changing world around them. I feel like keeping your religion the same for so long could lose

many followers and I think the reason this religion is still growing is because of their ability to

change. I can apply what I learned during this project to my future experiences with new

cultures. It will be interesting to see how others interact within their culture and how different

value theories can apply to each culture.

 References

• History and Beliefs of the Presbyterian Church. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2018, from
http://www.scfaith.org/history/

• Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2014). Intercultural communication in contexts. New

York: McGraw-Hill.