RITUALS&SYMBOLS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RITUALS&SYMBOLS - Essay Example Most of the people were dressed nice, but some were wearing blue jeans and nice T-shirts with tennis shoes. The overall impression was a group of fashionable suburbanites at one of their more important social gatherings. The church looked as if it had been constructed sometime in the past ten years. It was relatively large and didn’t necessarily look like the traditional country church with steeple. Instead, it was shaped almost like an L, made of light brown brick and creamy white siding with darker brown brick accenting the cornerstones and other features. At one end of the church, there was an impressive open-air tower that might have been a modern interpretation of the old steeple. The roofs were sharply peaked and tiled in green, giving the church a very natural appearance as if it had been placed there by God for the use of his servants. Inside, the first thing a person entered was the lobby. This was a long, very wide corridor that was lined with windows and covered with skylights. This made it seem almost like standing outside, but was protected from the elements and could be heated and cooled at appropriate times. For those who feel the only proper worship should be held outside, this lobby was very close to bringing the outside in. The light associated with God seemed very welcome and people were offered drinks, food and religious reading or listening material as they passed by small tables. The sanctuary didn’t have as much light, but regular windows, curtained with soft, gauzy white fabric, also allowed plenty of natural light to stream in from the edges. The large array of pipes for the pipe organ stood impressively behind the altar with the choir standing in front of it singing a hymn and making it obvious that music was a large portion of this church’s worship. A large wooden cross and plenty of green potted plants, mostly palm-type plants, decorated the altar as well, again bringing to mind the concept of the natural