Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Sydney C. Coffman
26 April 2019
I decided to attend a Catholic church in Middletown called the Holy Family Parish or
know as St. John Catholic Church with my Aunt Amy. I was excited I had a family member to
go with to make me feel more comfortable and give me the details in advance on what to expect.
My aunt has been working hard for over a year to convert to be a catholic and I asked her if I
could go with her to experience this religion and service. My family and me are Pentecostal,
which is very different from being Catholic. What makes Catholics different from Pentecostals?
Culture is a way of living, behavioral norms, styles of communication, beliefs and values
of a group. Culture can be where any group of people expresses the same values, concepts, and
assumptions about life. When asked to immerse myself in another culture’s events, I was
skeptical. I am very happy with my everyday surroundings and I don’t like to be put into
situations in which I don’t know the customs. This assignment asked me to step out of my
comfort zone and get a taste for what other types of cultures could be like. In attending this
church I got a feel for how different the world is outside of my everyday routine. I got to
experience the way people interacted with each other and how they reacted to me being there. I
also got to be a part of what happens in their environment on a day-to-day basis including rituals,
St. John’s Catholic Church was a great experience for me, as soon as I arrived for the
service the building stood out immediately to me. It was so big and beautiful a lot different from
my small hometown church. When looking at the design of the church I noticed a bell tower with
a clock and a huge elegant archway with big doors as I was walking in. This church also had two
detailed stone angels on each side of the door and an elegant circle window with multiple glass
designs. As I walked in with my aunt I was overwhelmed, the church was beautiful and full off
color. Not only could this church fit over five hundred people but also the building was covered
in white, marble, and gold. The Alter had a stone figure of Jesus and Mary very detailed in color,
As my aunt introduced me to her friends I noticed that everyone was dressed casual, just
as if we were at my church. There were people wearing jeans and nice button-up shirts and there
were other people who wore long dresses, covering the knees, with white gloves on. As we
approached the entrance to the sanctuary, what they call the area with the pews, my aunt stopped
me. She told me that before they go into the church sanctuary, you have to dip your fingers into
the holy water and trace a cross from your head, to your chest, then shoulder to shoulder. This is
what sets Catholics apart from Pentecostal because I typically don’t do that before my church
service. After we did the cross tracing, we were able to sit anywhere. We chose a spot where my
aunt usually sits and she introduced me to the people around us. They were very friendly and
welcoming to me. Before the service started every one started to kneel and pray. Catholics do a
private prayer while kneeling down in front of their seat; I thought this was interesting. This is
the time to ask the Lord to open your heart and ears for the service. While kneeling, the music
begins to play and the Priest, alter boys, and lectors come out from the back of the church and
walk up the center aisle to the Alter. This is when the Priest opens with a prayer and everyone
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stands. At this point, I can tell the people around me knew I was not a catholic because I was
delayed with the actions of everyone else. This made me feel a little bit uncomfortable because I
assumed people were judging me. Father John preached about sin and how it can affect out lives
deeply. He also talked about how if we accept the lord in our hearts and do the right thing, life
will become more clearly for us. When he was done, the lectors read the old and new testaments
weekly readings. One thing I was happy to see and hear were the songs the people sang. This
church had a huge choir and they sang like angles it was amazing to hear. I tired to follow in the
hymnbook but I was causing more attention to myself flipping through the book to try to find the
song. The priest finished up with his homily and the prayer intentions, which is what you would
like for the Lord to help you with during the week. There was a Eucharist minister who stands
right beside the priest during communion and hands out the wine. My aunt explained to me that
to have this title you have to go through training in order to assist the priest with these actions.
When we all left our seats to drink the wine I got lost in the huge crowd of people. I started to
panic a little bit because I felt out of place, and I was unfamiliar with what was going on.
Fortunately, a nice woman who was sitting behind me knew I was new there and helped me
through this process. She thought that it was great that I wanted experience this new religion and
she guided me through the steps of communion. I meet my aunt back at our seat and we waited
for everyone else to finish, she told me to kneel on the pedals again. When everyone makes it
back to his or her seats the priest dismisses mass and we end with one more song. As we left the
church, we dip our fingers once more into the holy water and trace the cross over our chest and
I am very happy that I took this opportunity to learn more about a different culture and
religion than what I am used to. One thing I learned is that even though there are many different
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ways to practice your faith, no way is the right or wrong way. I always heard that Catholic
services are very long and I was expecting to be there for four hours but I wasn’t. In comparison
to this experience and my church, they both lasted about the same amount of time.
Communication between the people at this church was not very different from what I am
used to. Before the sermon, people engage in casual conversation as well as after. During the
service it was very unlikely to see people talking the same as my church. They were all paying
close attention to the priest word. As we were walking out of the church my aunt introduced me
to a family that she talks with regularly. They were very welcoming and interested on how I
thought my experience went at their church was. The woman began telling me about home-life
groups and other activities outside of the services on Saturday and Sunday that I could get
involved with in I was interested. I thought this was very kind and made me want to come back.
As I said my goodbye to my aunt I thanked her for taking me to her church and allowing me to
experience this wonderful service. I may not be catholic but I understood what Father John was
preaching about and he had good explanations on how to be a better catholic and person, it was
This was a great experience and I’m happy I got to do this with my aunt. I definitely was
out of my comfort zone at first but the people who attended this church were more than happy to
help me. I would suggest to others to branch out from what they are used to and meet new
people. I learned a lot about Catholics and I can’t say enough how warm and welcoming they
were to me, they welcomed me with open arms. Getting out of my comfort zone allowed me to
see a different environment and culture and I can honestly say it was an experience I will never
forget.