Project Home

Western Places to Visit

Eastern Places to Visit

A Collection of My Encounters with Christian Worship Services

by Lynne Borneman

I was born into a Roman Catholic family. Growing up I was not consistently exposed to any religious service. When I became an adult I rediscovered my birth faith and today I am a practicing Catholic. I tell you this because I want you to understand that this is my point of reference as far as my religious knowledge is concerned and throughout this paper I will make comparisons to the Catholic mass because of that familiarity. Prior to this assignment I knew very little about non-Catholic religious worship services. I embraced this opportunity and attended six local Christian worship services. I was hoping to find a commonality between them. I wanted to answer the question "What are the essentials in a Christian worship service?" Over the next couple of pages I will share my thoughts about each visit. 

For the benefit of my readers who are unfamiliar with the Catholic Mass I will very briefly describe the basics. The Catholic Mass is formal, structured and steeped in ritual. It is consistent. Whether you attend a mass in Las Vegas or Ireland the format and content of the Mass is the same. To one who is familiar with the Mass there are no surprises. The Mass is a memorial to our Lord Jesus during which an ordained priest performs the consecration of the bread and wine. There is an opening hymn, opening prayers, liturgical readings, a Gospel reading, the Creed and Lord Prayer, the consecration of the bread and wine, the parishioners receive communion, a closing blessing and a closing hymn, all within an hour.

Community Lutheran Church

Potomac Baptist Church

Saint Luke's Serbian Orthodox Church

Jehovah's Witness

Herndon Friends Meeting

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

What are the essentials in a Christian worship service?

When I started my visits I thought all the services should include the singing of hymns, scriptural readings, some type of sermon, reciting of the "Lord's Prayer", Communion, money collection, greeting each other, and prayers for those in need among us. At the very least I was expecting to see a visible Christian sign - the cross or crucifix. However, this was not always the case. Only half of the services followed the structure I was expecting and displayed any outward sign of Christianity.

The Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, and Eastern Orthodox services shared many similarities. These included a cross or crucifix displayed, Bible Gospel readings, a sermon or homily centered on the readings and on service to the needy, song and prayer to/about Jesus, The Lord's Prayer recited, and Communion (except for Baptists). 

The Mormon, Jehovah Witness, and Friends gatherings were more like a meeting mixed with a worship service. The Mormons, although on the surface their service appeared to resemble the mainstream services, did not follow the conventional Christian service I laid out above. The Jehovah Witness' and Friends meetings were not similar to any of the other Christian services I attended.

I am not sure there is a set of required essentials for a Christian service. What I found in common between all the Christian services, which make them Christian, is their use of the New Testament Bible and their belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior. In churches where this was not obvious to me during the service, I asked afterwards. I've learned that worship services come in different packaging. Some of them are very structured and formal like a Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Mass. Some are middle of the road or mixes like the Lutheran, Mormon or Baptist services. Others are very informal like the Friend's gathering or are more a meeting like the Jehovah Witnesses. All of the churches preached and sang about God and/or Christ's love for all people. Even though they have different types of worship, each proclaims their love for God. All of the churches, and I think this can also be said of the non-Christian religious service as well, had some form of public, communal meeting to worship together, to give thanks, and to learn about God. Each church uses their public meeting/worship time to announce to the world that they believe.

Return to top