¶ … church as an institution vs. As a community?
An institution is a place with set, formal rules of operation. It has a history and a tradition, and often certain requirements or barriers to entry. Communities, in contrast, are voluntary associations with members who can easily enter and leave the fold. A community is spontaneously, randomly created, like an online community of people with an interest in a particular sport or television show, or a neighborhood community of people who have haphazardly been thrown together, because they own houses in the area and want to get to know one another better and help each other.
To be part of an institution means to accept certain rules. The only requirement for membership in an online community is having an Internet account and having a similar interest. Being part of a real-world community often means simply being part of a particular location. A church community is based on voluntary attendance and like-mindedness. It is entirely volitional. People can have different ideas, but as long as they feel comfortable with other church-goers, they can attend. According to the institutional authority of the Catholic Church, individuals must accept certain principles, go through certain orientation and membership procedures (such as confirmation and confession), and submit to certain authorities, such as priests, bishops, and the Pope.
Give a meaning of sacrament as it applies to church.
Sacraments in the context of a worship community are often defined as the invisible made visible, or how the divine makes itself physically manifest on earth. The most obvious symbol of this is transubstantiation in the Catholic Mass, where God is made present in the form of the host, through the ritual process evident during the ceremony. In other Christian traditions, such as Quakerism, the spirit may be spontaneously present during a communal and nonhierarchical worship ceremony, when it moves ordinary believers to speak. The church during the context of any worship ceremony is supposed to provide a unique space and time for the sacred to become present in the world, even if the tradition's specific concept of what is a sacrament which may vary and not be called a 'sacrament' in words.
Church Planting: Models and Leadership Development In The Hispanic Context Church planting is a process that results in a new Christian church or parish in a new and untouched locality. Different from church development that includes the introduction of a new service, worship center, or expression that is integrated in to an already-established congregation, church planting is a concept that starts from the ground up. For a new local church to be
The Catholic Church Government The internal government of the early Church was formed within the framework of the Roman Empire, and bishops exercised authority over the Christian community in each Roman municipium. By the third century, a shift took place as the bishops of each Roman province formed the habit of meeting in a provincial synod, presided over by the bishop of the capital city, meaning the metropolitan bishop or archbishop.
44). Moreover, religious expressions that take place in public forums on campus should not discriminate against or favor any religion. Governments can be involved with religion if a religious organization violates constitutional rights. 2.What is the distinction between public and private institutions? Public institutions are bound by the law to refrain from endorsing "religion over nonreligion" or to support "one religion over another" (p. 43). Private institutions are not, insofar as
Church leaders have to delve deeper into leadership complexities and to discover what's new and imperative and re-draws their leadership maps and their aspirations of leadership that will drive into the expected changes. For instance a church that is not yet using online services, such as a website may not attract new comers because more people have become technology savvy and are searching for information in the internet. My argument
Institution of Slavery One may find it quite easy to stand with The Reverend Thornton Stringfellow concerning his views of the institution of slavery. As a Deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Virginia, and Pastor of the Stevensburg Baptist church in Culpeper County, Virginia, Reverend Stringfellow brings a clear understanding of the traditional beliefs of his congregation. His argument in favor of slavery is substantiated point for
Free exercise can be explained as follows: "If a rigidly observed policy of neutrality would discriminate against campus organizations with religious purposes or impinge on an individual's right to freedom of speech or free exercise of religion," then a state organization such as a public school would be obliged to permit religion on campus (p. 43). However, the free speech clause of the First Amendment has been cited for
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