Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod

Today we continued our odyssey by visiting a Lutheran church that some of our relatives attend every week. We have attended special services in honor of some of our cousins’ confirmations, but have never been to an “ordinary” Lutheran service. We learned quite a lot there today, and would like to share some of the differences between our own Catholic church and this Lutheran church.

One of the first things we noticed as we walked into the chapel was that there was no crucifix—only a cross, at the front of the chapel. This is because Protestants don’t believe in reproducing an image of God. However, other than the cross, the front of the chapel was set up basically the same way that our church is set up—candles around the altar, a chair for the pastor, and a “stand” where the pastor delivers his sermon.

The service also was very similar to a Catholic Mass—there were three readings, (although two of them were from the New Testament and only one was from the Old Testament) including a reading from the Gospel. However, the sermon was structured around one of Paul’s epistles to the Ephesians, instead of being structured around the Gospel reading, as it is in a Catholic church. Two of us especially liked the written program that we followed during the service because it told us when you stand, sit, and sing. At our church, if you are new to the service, you have to just copy what other people are doing because there is no written guide.

Our relatives explained to us that at their church, they take Communion on the first and third Sundays of the month. This is a difference from the Catholic tradition of taking it any time there is a Mass—since Communion is served at daily Mass as well as on Sundays.

When we read on the official Lutheran website that “Lutherans believe that Christ's body and blood are truly present in the Lord's Supper, but they do not believe, with Catholics, that the bread and wine, are permanently "changed into" Christ's body and blood,” we were very confused. After all, didn’t this mean the same thing? We decided to ask the pastor of the church after the service. We asked our question, and after giving his answer some thought, he told us that Lutherans believe Christ’s body and blood are inside the bread and wine, but they do not literally become the body and blood of Christ. In comparison, Catholics believe that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ—that there is no element of bread or wine in the substance after the bread and wine has been blessed. This was a very interesting concept, since most Protestant churches believe that the bread and wine is only a symbol of the body and blood of Christ, and nothing more. The pastor explained that the Lutheran beliefs about communion are much closer to Catholic beliefs than other Protestant faiths.

We are very glad that we visited this Lutheran church today, because we truly uncovered many similarities—and some differences—between the Catholic and Lutheran churches. 

-Soklabi

Yoga Reflections

People don't all agree, but yoga is not a religion; it is a way of life. Rather like Druidism, devoted practicers of Yoga (called "yogis") consider Yoga a "path of life" rather than the more restricting term religion. Yoga relies on practice and discipline to relax and calm the mind and body. This is achieved by a series of poses, from the easy and relaxing "child's pose" to the more challenging and complex "lion's pose."

The goal of Yogis is to achieve spiritual repose, calm in the face of pain and discomfort, and physical and mental strength. These goals are the ambitions of a true Yogi, however there is a difference between being a true Yogi and just practicing yoga. Some people practice yoga just because they want less physical discomfort and more calm and peace. They do it as an exercise.

Some people disagree with this idea. For example, a Southern Baptist preacher says that yoga is sacrilege because it is self-centered and not centered on God. He believes that the body is not a vehicle to the divine. Do you think Christians can or should practice yoga? What about Muslims? Here is an article about this debate.

We recently attended our first yoga class. We did some poses, like Warrior, Savasana (corpse pose), Child's Pose, and Downward Facing Dog. Yoga can be very relaxing, so relaxing that one of us came very close to falling asleep at the end during the Savasana pose. In our opinion, there is no conflict between the goals of yoga and religion.

Interview, Part One

After visiting the Universal Unitarian church last week, we were able to interview two members about their church's traditions. Here is a summary of the first part of the interview. We'll post the rest soon!

Q: Do UUs believe in an afterlife?

We don’t have a single belief in a specific afterlife, but single members have their own individual beliefs about an afterlife.

Q: Why did you choose your religion?

1: I didn’t want a religion that was too fixed on God.
2: I was brought up as a UU from when I was very young.

Q: Does your religion have specific festivals/celebrations?

At Christmas time, UUs have many different holiday symbols displayed on their altars—for example, we have a Hanukkah candelabra, a Christmas tree, and other symbols for that time of year. UUs don’t just celebrate Christmas—we celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Yuletide as well. In the New Year, our church has an apple and cheese communion—we pass around apple slices and cheese. However, this is individual to our church, since we don’t know of any other UU churches that have this communion.
In the spring around May, we have a Flower Communion. In this communion, each church member brings a flower to their church and exchanges it for a different flower with another member.

Q:Is a person of your religion required to make a certain pilgrimage?

We don’t have any specific pilgrimages that we are required to make, but we do have a general annual convention, or meeting, that any Universal Unitarian who wishes to go can. UU historical roots are in New England, so if someone wanted to go learn about the history of UUs, New England would be a good place to go. Many UUs go there to learn more about their religion, so that is a pilgrimage of sorts.