Importance and Structure of Worship & Ritual
Worship is a term which draws many images. In this case Worship involves the celebration within a church community which includes Jesus Christ, Christian Worship. This reflection is regarding my home church, on Palms Sunday. I find it to be a very unique celebration of Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem. In that it is a celebration of a community it is important to know the community to understand the worship of the community.
Plymouth Congregational Church has gone through a series of changes in identity, polity. Most recently it is a part of the United Church of Christ. Although the physical building is in the urban center of Syracuse, New York, the congregation members consist of people from a very diverse group in regards to geography. There are some members who travel near to twenty miles to attend on a Sunday. It is made up of Professors, Blue Collar and white collar workers, Gay & Straight which includes a diversified representation of family dynamics. Although the congregation is mixed racially, it is mainly White Middle Class Families.
The congregation over the years has had significant milestones of social action and concern. Just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, an African Slave was jailed pending return to his owner. The congregation members at that time rose up and broke into the jail to free the slave so he could flee to Canada. This rescue was better known as The Jerry Rescue and was in response to the newly passed Fugitive Slave Laws. This rescue was one of the first challenges to the law. The church is a Just peace Church, Open and Affirming, and a Sanctuary Church. I describe the identity and brief history of the church because the community which makes up the church body plays a significant role in what forms of worship will be allowed. Given the church’s history of social action and willingness to be at the forefront of unique religious expressions, the form of worship in many ways is unique.
Syracuse University has a
Plymouth Congregational Church has gone through a series of changes in identity, polity. Most recently it is a part of the United Church of Christ. Although the physical building is in the urban center of Syracuse, New York, the congregation members consist of people from a very diverse group in regards to geography. There are some members who travel near to twenty miles to attend on a Sunday. It is made up of Professors, Blue Collar and white collar workers, Gay & Straight which includes a diversified representation of family dynamics. Although the congregation is mixed racially, it is mainly White Middle Class Families.
The congregation over the years has had significant milestones of social action and concern. Just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, an African Slave was jailed pending return to his owner. The congregation members at that time rose up and broke into the jail to free the slave so he could flee to Canada. This rescue was better known as The Jerry Rescue and was in response to the newly passed Fugitive Slave Laws. This rescue was one of the first challenges to the law. The church is a Just peace Church, Open and Affirming, and a Sanctuary Church. I describe the identity and brief history of the church because the community which makes up the church body plays a significant role in what forms of worship will be allowed. Given the church’s history of social action and willingness to be at the forefront of unique religious expressions, the form of worship in many ways is unique.
Syracuse University has a