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When I left the Baptist’s and stopped in at the RCC , with my Bible in hand, no one else had a Bible . Neither did the Eastern Orthodox I spent 2 years with . Neither did the Anglicans I spent a year with .
People sitting in the pews with their Bibles open passively following the droning of a preacher is a Protestant thing. Most of Christianity actively participate in some form of liturgy throughout the service .
What’s funny is I heard more Scripture read in these churches than the Baptist ones . An OT passage, a NT passage that was non Gospel, and a Gospel passage . Every service . The preaching was better also, which actually surprised me .
Yep - a large portion of the bible is covered over a 3-year cycle, so a faithful Catholic will have essentially have 'heard' the bible read thru about 15 times over their adult lifetime.
Also, the same readings/schedule is used in every Catholic church worldwide, so it's not up to the 'random discretion' of the local pastor - you can attend anywhere, and it will be the same mass, same readings.
However, different Hymns, and the homily will be unique to the local pastor/priest - which might be better at one parish versus another.
During covid when we were barred by civil authorities from attending locally in person, essentially every parish streamed mass online - it was interesting opportunity to me to 'tune in' to some far-off diverse parishes to join-in with them (under the circumstances) and appreciate their local differences.
Yep - a large portion of the bible is covered over a 3-year cycle, so a faithful Catholic will have essentially have 'heard' the bible read thru about 15 times over their adult lifetime.
Also, the same readings/schedule is used in every Catholic church worldwide, so it's not up to the 'random discretion' of the local pastor - you can attend anywhere, and it will be the same mass, same readings.
However, different Hymns, and the homily will be unique to the local pastor/priest - which might be better at one parish versus another.
During covid when we were barred by civil authorities from attending locally in person, essentially every parish streamed mass online - it was interesting opportunity to me to 'tune in' to some far-off diverse parishes to join-in with them (under the circumstances) and appreciate their local differences.
The best sermons I ever heard were from the Orthodox priest. He didn't preach AT you, it was more like a Sunday School teacher giving a lesson, or like sitting around your living room having a beer while listening to a very educated person tell you stuff about Christianity. No bombastic stuff, no pulpiteering, just a simple message. I said this to him one time and he laughed and shrugged his shoulders, and said the least important part of the service was his homily, so he didn't sweat it, just gave a talk. His main role was to lead the liturgy and conduct the Eucharist, so he didn't need to wow the crowd with a sensational sermon every week . He once said that if he found out a tornado was on the way and he needed to cut the service short , he would skip the homily. In the EO the priest isn't the show, the liturgy and the Eucharist are the show. In evangelical Protestantism the sermon is the show. Evangelicals like to think they truly worship, but in fact they sing a few hymns and then listen to the preacher earn his salary by trying to preach a sensational sermon. In an EO church the entire liturgy is one long worship session of God .
The best sermons I ever heard were from the Orthodox priest. He didn't preach AT you, it was more like a Sunday School teacher giving a lesson, or like sitting around your living room having a beer while listening to a very educated person tell you stuff about Christianity. No bombastic stuff, no pulpiteering, just a simple message. I said this to him one time and he laughed and shrugged his shoulders, and said the least important part of the service was his homily, so he didn't sweat it, just gave a talk. His main role was to lead the liturgy and conduct the Eucharist, so he didn't need to wow the crowd with a sensational sermon every week . He once said that if he found out a tornado was on the way and he needed to cut the service short , he would skip the homily. In the EO the priest isn't the show, the liturgy and the Eucharist are the show. In evangelical Protestantism the sermon is the show. Evangelicals like to think they truly worship, but in fact they sing a few hymns and then listen to the preacher earn his salary by trying to preach a sensational sermon. In an EO church the entire liturgy is one long worship session of God .
Similar to an Episcopal service. Don't know about EO, but in the Episcopal Church, the readings, prayers, short sermon, etc., lead up to Communion, the most important part of corporate worship (to us). I am not thrilled with the dullness of the Episcopal Hymnal, but I will take it over happy clappy repetitive "praise choruses" or whatever they call that.
I like my fellow Episcopalian MinivanDriver's characteristic of those types as "The Church of What's Happening Now".
I would be interested in visiting an Orthodox Church. Went to a Greek Orthodox funeral once, that's it.
"The Church of What's Happening Now" came from comedy routines by Flip Wilson back in the 1960s. It was pastored by Reverend Leroy, who told the congregation that the church needed to grow and run instead of stumbling and crawling. The congregants responded "Make it run, Rev." The Rev then said to make it run, it first needed to stand up and walk. "Make it walk, Rev," the crowd shouted. "To make it walk, we need money," the good Reverend preached. "Let it crawl," the members replied.
The best sermons I ever heard were from the Orthodox priest. He didn't preach AT you, it was more like a Sunday School teacher giving a lesson, or like sitting around your living room having a beer while listening to a very educated person tell you stuff about Christianity. No bombastic stuff, no pulpiteering, just a simple message. I said this to him one time and he laughed and shrugged his shoulders, and said the least important part of the service was his homily, so he didn't sweat it, just gave a talk. His main role was to lead the liturgy and conduct the Eucharist, so he didn't need to wow the crowd with a sensational sermon every week . He once said that if he found out a tornado was on the way and he needed to cut the service short , he would skip the homily. In the EO the priest isn't the show, the liturgy and the Eucharist are the show. In evangelical Protestantism the sermon is the show. Evangelicals like to think they truly worship, but in fact they sing a few hymns and then listen to the preacher earn his salary by trying to preach a sensational sermon. In an EO church the entire liturgy is one long worship session of God .
Amen to the bolded.
Offering sacrifice to Almighty God is why we're there.
Not to be picky but Christianity is a secular term. Meaning a term created by the world yet not found in the gospel.
Christians will always will be known for sitting in pews/chairs with their bibles/computers.
The word Christian (Christiania in Greek) is from Scriptures. Christianity is a form of the word.
Acts 11:26-26
Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
The word Christian (Christiania in Greek) is from Scriptures.
"Christiania" is not the Greek word for "Christian", but is instead an old name for Oslo, Norway. The Greek word for "Christian" is Χριστιανός, or Christianos as transliterated into the Roman alphabet.
"The Church of What's Happening Now" came from comedy routines by Flip Wilson back in the 1960s. It was pastored by Reverend Leroy, who told the congregation that the church needed to grow and run instead of stumbling and crawling. The congregants responded "Make it run, Rev." The Rev then said to make it run, it first needed to stand up and walk. "Make it walk, Rev," the crowd shouted. "To make it walk, we need money," the good Reverend preached. "Let it crawl," the members replied.
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Amen to the bolded.
