The place that I worship is called Glengormley Methodist Church. It was founded in 1854 and is quite a modern church. It is situated on the outskirts of Glengormley but near the main road for easy access.
There are two main parts to the church; the main building (place of worship) and the church hall where weekday activities take place for example Girls Brigade on Fridays and Youth choir on Saturdays.
As you walk through the main door the first thing that catches your eye is the big wooden cross which is situated in the middle of the church, behind the pulpit, it is here to remind people that you are entering the house of God and the cross represents Jesus dying for our sins. Below the cross is the communion table, this is used by the minister to distribute communion. Communion is a sign of the new covenant between God and his people in and through Christ. It is a public confession of our faith and a witness to the gospel- a word in action, a declaration of what Christ has done, is doing and will do for us.
In front of the communion table is the pulpit. The pulpit is used by the minister to relate and teach the word of God to the congregation.
Above the pulpit to the left is a stained glass window for the boy’s brigade and to the right the girl’s brigade. Below the pulpit is a kneeling bench, this is used by members of the church to accept communion and is also used for private prayers. To the right of the kneeling bench is the baptismal font, this is used of baptism of small children and is made out of marble. Then to the left of the step is the lectern, this is used by selected members of the church and the minister to read scriptures from the bible during the church service.
The pews in the church are very comfortable and they can be moved for repositioning. The choir then stand to the right of the pulpit at the front to help carry out the church service. On the floor is carpet which makes my church that bit more welcoming. All the furniture in the church is plain as we believe in worshipping god in simplicity.
Baptismal Font
This is a receptacle for water, used for baptism. Early Christian baptism took place by total immersion, so the baptismal font was large and generally built into the floor of a separate building. Later, particularly in northern Europe, child baptism replaced adult baptism so the font could be made smaller. The bowl is filed with holy water which is sometimes donated by members who have been to the Holy land. The font in my church is situated beside the communion table.
In the baptizing ceremony for babies, the baby is required to wear a gown in white to symbolize a traditional sign of purity.
You are baptized as a baby so you are brought up in the way of god in a Christian family.
Our service varies from that of a Baptist as Baptists have a baptismal tank. This tank is then filled full of holy water and the person actually descends into the water. Baptists believe that you have to be committed Christian before you are baptized. In our service we believe is it right to baptize children as in the bible Jesus baptized small infants.
Lectern
The lectern in my church has a banner attached to it with a picture of a burning bush. This was donated by the Methodist woman’s association. The lectern is used for reading scripture and teaching the word of god. “Lectern” is Latin for- to read. The lectern is made out of mahogany wood and has a silver microphone attached to it.
The scripture read out is generally a parable or verse which you can translate in different ways to guide you with life. The able has many different scriptures which can guide Christians through life.
Scriptures were originally written in Greek and Latin but now it is translated into many different languages so Christians all over the world can read and learn about god.
Because the epistle lesson is usually read from the lectern the lectern side of the church is called the Epistle Side.
“Too much time and money is being spent on church buildings” Is this fair?
There is always one debate that every church has: is there too much money being spent on church buildings?
Some people may agree and say that all the money that goes into the church goes to good causes, for example, new musical instruments and better sound systems, but do you really need good sound systems to praise god? Don’t you really need a good minister? Even though not everything is put towards music, some of it goes towards buying new hymn books.
Recently in my church all the stained glass windows were replaced. They were designed by everyone who was part of the church and each one id dedicated to a member of the church who died and is deeply missed. These windows were a result of weeks of debating, whether or not it was necessary. One thing I have to admit was that it was a really fun thing to do. I went to church every Friday night along with some other people to help design them and it made me feel part of the church community.
On the other hand some people believe that there is just too much money spent on churches. For example the Roman Catholic Church. There is definitely a clear contrast between my church and that of a chapel as the Catholic church is more ornate and the donations made by the congregation goes towards the up keep of the church as it is hard to keep, rather than the Methodist church which is more simplistic needs less money to keep it and so the donations can go towards over seas missions and community based projects.
In my opinion I think that there is too much money spent on churches. Even though the money is used to make the church more modern and attractive to the community I feel it could be used to help theses in need in far off countries who may not have heard of god, or people who don’t have churches or bibles. Donated money could be used to send the youth group on a short term mission to give poor town bibles and teach them about god. This could be more educational and worthwhile.
