The Observing Religious Communities assignment gives you an opportunity to move beyond the classroom and experience a religious house of worship and service firsthand. It is one thing to read about a religion in a book or listen to me lecture about the major beliefs and practices, but your understanding of a religious tradition will always be incomplete until you see that religion lived out in community at a house of worship for that tradition. Additionally, scholars of religion engage in "field study" on a regular basis in order to better understand religion and religious practitioners as they understand themselves.
The purpose of this assignment is to
- allow you to learn about religious traditions by experiencing them firsthand
- give you a chance to see/experience many of the features of religion we have studied in a live setting
- learn more about the incredible religious diversity of our own community
To achieve the objective(s),
- choose a service/activity at a house of worship to visit (in-person or online).
- read through the instructions for the paper below before you attend the service so that you know what you will be expected to write about
- be sure to take a picture of yourself in/in front of the house of worship you visit (if you visit one on your own) or a screenshot of your device while watching the LiveStream
Instructions for the Written Paper:
For this assignment, you will need to attend a religious service at a local houses of worship. If you regularly attend a house of worship, it is fine if use your home house of worship as one of your site visits.
*Since this is an online class, you are welcome to "attend" the service virtually. Most houses of worship now offer a virtual option to watch their services online live. If you are able to attend a house of worship in-person, however, I highly recommend it! It really does give you an experience that you will not forget! But as this is an online course, I understand that won't be possible for everyone.
Compose a 800-word paper (12-point font, Times New Roman, double-spaced) answering the following questions:
A. Basic Information about the service and house of worship
- Identify the name of the site that you visited.
- Identify the tradition and sub-tradition (if applicable) of the religious site that you visited.
- Identify the time and date of your visit
- Identify any people that you spoke to
- Any other helpful/interesting data about your site visit location
B . Information about the House of Worship and People in Attendance
Describe the House of Worship
- What did the interior/exterior of the house of worship look like? Was it very ornate or simple? Were there any distinguishing features? Did people sit in chairs, benches, or on the ground? What was the center or focus of the space the service was in?
Describe the People who attended the Service
- About how many people were there? What did you notice about the age, gender and socioeconomic status of the people in attendance? Was there anything distinctive about their clothing? Did people seem to know each other well or not? Was there anything distinctive about their behavior during the service?
Describe the Religious Leader who presided over the Service
- Was there a clear leader who was in charge of the service? Or was it led by multiple people? What did you notice about the age, gender and socioeconomic status of the religious leader(s)? Was there anything distinctive about the leader's dress or behavior?
C. Information about the Service
- Were there any rituals performed? What were the actions related to this ritual?
- Were there any myths/sacred stories described or invoked in the service?
- Were there any doctrines or truth claims invoked?
- Were there any ethical teachings mentioned as part of the service?
D. Overall Learning and Impression of this experience
- What did you learn about religion and how it is lived out in the world?
- What was this experience like for you? Was it enjoyable? Uncomfortable? What did it feel like to be in another religion's sacred space?
E. Please also include a picture from your trip to each site visit.
The photo could be a selfie of yourself in front of the house of worship, an image or video taken during the service (if that is appropriate) or a picture of something inside/outside of the house of worship. If you feel that taking any picture would be inappropriate in that space, try to take some sort of informational handout (many houses of worship provide these in the entrance area) and take a picture of that after leaving the house of worship. If you attended the service online, please take a screenshot of your computer while watching the service.