Olhh Essay

And even though I felt awkward, I actually enjoyed some aspects of the ceremony. For example, the reverend was female, and I have never witnessed that at any of the places of worship that I have attended. In fact, I even read in my textbook that “From a conflict perspective, the doctrines of the three major monotheistic religions- religions that worship one divine figure – are quiet sexist. ” (316, Kerry/Stein) I have heard people argue about how wrong or right it is for women to be in the “pulpit,” quoting scriptures such as “l do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority ever a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. (English Standard Version Bible, Timothy 1- 2:12) But I have also heard quoted scriptures such as Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ” (Standard English Bible, Galatians 3:28) So rather than feeling that sense of isolation that I would get if I were culturally shocked or that feeling of my denomination of Christianity being better, I felt a feminine connection, and I was pleased.

However, as the service went on, I started to think of myself as longing to the group of uncrushed because of how uncomfortable I felt during worship and what some of the thoughts were that ran through my head. The definition of uncrushed is “not belonging to or connected with a church” (Definition), and that was clearly something that defined me at that moment, as I Just wasn’t used to this type of worship, with its quietness, unfamiliar hymns, and the lack of diversity. Also, I don’t attend church regularly.

I immediately felt uncomfortable as I searched for a seat, so I sat in the first available seat I could find. As soon as I sat down, I had to stand back up for the prelude of a hymnal called “O’ sons and Daughters. ” Unfortunately for me, everyone in the church knew the song and I didn’t, but I tried to harmonize and sing random parts to blend in. I guess I wasn’t harmonize enough because the guy next to me kept looking at me and eventually handed me the “MUM,” which is the United Methodist Hymnal book.Then just when I thought we were going to sit back down, we sang another song for the horal call to worship called “On the Third Day,” and everyone aside from me knew this one as well. After the choral call, Reverend Mary Lou Gilbert walked on stage and gave a greeting, which everyone knew as well.

Around this time I was extremely embarrassed because I didn’t know that either. We sang another hymn and then an Easter affirmation, a prayer, and then the tithe. We proceeded with a doxology, a praise sung to the Holy Trinity, and another hymn, which I could find in the MUM and was extremely happy finally to be able to sing along.Then there was an anthem, which I didn’t know that made me sink back into my disappointment, and then finally a sermon. I was so happy that I didn’t have to sing anymore only to have to stand up 10 minutes later for another hymn. The sermon was only 10 or 15 minutes. I was so shocked.