SMK Confirmation Class 2006-2007
SMK Confirmation Class 2006-2007
Unit 3, Assignment 1 - "Why the Church?"
Why the Church?
Begin with a time of prayer:
Draw your church together, O God, into one great company of disciples, each following the path of our Savior Jesus Christ into every walk of life, together serving God in mission to the world and witnessing to God’s love on every continent and island. We ask this in Jesus’ name and for his sake.
There is an old story about the man who visits the local “wise woman”. He asks her why it is that he should be a part of the Christian Church, he wants just to go his own way in the world, living a “good life” and being kind to everyone.
I think that this is a good and quite common question that we all ask at some point in our lives. The image that the woman then presents is one that always has stayed with me. The “wise woman” went to her fireplace and with tongs took out one small piece of coal and set it upon the hearth. Soon the ember changed color from a brilliant red glow to an ashen grey. In the stillness of the moment, the young man realized the message – to be a “part of” means that the power and energy is shared and the fire can burn hotter and last longer than being on your own. The “wise woman” nodded her head and then showed the man how quickly the ember began to glow again once it was returned to the fire.
Some one once said that you can never return home again, but at your baptism you became a part of a family that always leaves a light on for you so that you can find you way. We are always stronger together than we are apart.
With that image, the early Christian disciples spoke of the “body of Christ” as being the Church – the Christian church.
After Jesus died and was raised from the dead and appeared to his friends, his followers spread the word of this “new life”. Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus, gave the first recorded Christian sermon on the day of "Pentecost”. As a result, more than 3000 people began to join this new following which in its early days was called “the Way”.
Some Roman emperors saw the early Christians as rebels because they refused to worship Roman gods. The Roman authorities persecuted both Christians and Jews, blaming them for their own political disasters. In 70 CE, the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem, hoping that this would rid the Roman Empire of both Christians and Jews alike.
To avoid arrest, Christians often met in secret. They often used secret signs, such as the fish, to show other Christians that it was safe to talk about their faith.
In 313 CE, the Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian and soon made Christianity the legal religion. A few years later in 325 CE Constantine called together other church leaders to Nicea to draw up a statement of Christian belief. This statement of belief is called the Nicean Creed. This then, became the accepted statement of Christianity. This creed included the idea of Trinity, which describes God as three persons in one: Father (creator of all), Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit (God’s continual presence in the world). This is still our central belief in the Christians community.
In the 5th and 6th Centuries the Roman Empire split in two. Constantinople was the capital in the Eastern (or Byzantine) Empire, while Rome became the capitol of the Western Empire. The Christian Church continued to grow and flourish but in 1054 there was a heated dispute between the head of the church in Constantinople (called the Patriarch) and the head of the church in Rome (called the Pope). This caused a great split in the church and even today we speak of the Eastern Orthodox Church and its Patriarch and the Western Church and the Pope. The Church in the west soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church – “catholic” meaning world-wide.
In 1529, King Henry VIII of England challenged the supreme authority of the Pope and declared himself to be the head of the Church in England. Many reforms were made at this time including the changing of the worship from the largely unknown language of Latin to the language of the “common man” – English. One of the great works of this time period was the translation of the bible into English and the writing and publishing of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549. Here, for the first time, there was a compilation of scripture, prayers and the worship of the people in their own native tongue.
Today, branches of the Church of England, also known as Anglican or Episcopalian, are found in many countries of the world. Here in Canada, you can link to the Anglican Church of Canada by visiting the site www.anglican.ca , and to our own “diocese of New Westminster by checking out www.vancouver.anglican.bc.ca
Companion Diocese
Our Diocese, like many in Canada, has a “companion diocese”, a diocese in another part of the Anglican Church with which we have a particular link. People from one diocese often visit one another, share in prayer, and share information and views. In our Diocese of New Westminster, our Companions are the people of the Anglican Diocese of Taiwan.
Every week we pray for each other in our worship and every few years we have a trip planned to visit the Diocese of Taiwan and 3 years ago, there was a group from Taiwan visiting us.
Questions
1. Go to the www.vancouver.anglican.bc.ca site and on the yellow strip click on Resources and scroll to page 9 where you will find a download for “Partnership Sunday Resources” and to the right side of the page, click on the down-facing arrow to see the screen. What you will see here are prayers and “ideas for worship” with a world-wide theme.
Choose one prayer that you like and write it in your blog. Why does it appeal to you? If you would offer prayer for another person or situation, what would it be?
2. St. Mary’s Kerrisdale is our Anglican Church, located on 37th and Larch St. in Vancouver, BC. Check out the web site for the church at www.smkchurch.com and find the Mission statement of the Parish. How does this statement tell others who read it that St. Mary’s Kerrisdale is a Christian church?
3. The Nicene Creed was written long ago as a statement of belief for the Christian community. Do you believe this statement? What parts of it may trouble you? Why?
Unit 3, Assignment 1 - "Why the Church?"
Why the Church?
Begin with a time of prayer:
Draw your church together, O God, into one great company of disciples, each following the path of our Savior Jesus Christ into every walk of life, together serving God in mission to the world and witnessing to God’s love on every continent and island. We ask this in Jesus’ name and for his sake.
There is an old story about the man who visits the local “wise woman”. He asks her why it is that he should be a part of the Christian Church, he wants just to go his own way in the world, living a “good life” and being kind to everyone.
I think that this is a good and quite common question that we all ask at some point in our lives. The image that the woman then presents is one that always has stayed with me. The “wise woman” went to her fireplace and with tongs took out one small piece of coal and set it upon the hearth. Soon the ember changed color from a brilliant red glow to an ashen grey. In the stillness of the moment, the young man realized the message – to be a “part of” means that the power and energy is shared and the fire can burn hotter and last longer than being on your own. The “wise woman” nodded her head and then showed the man how quickly the ember began to glow again once it was returned to the fire.
Some one once said that you can never return home again, but at your baptism you became a part of a family that always leaves a light on for you so that you can find you way. We are always stronger together than we are apart.
With that image, the early Christian disciples spoke of the “body of Christ” as being the Church – the Christian church.
After Jesus died and was raised from the dead and appeared to his friends, his followers spread the word of this “new life”. Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus, gave the first recorded Christian sermon on the day of "Pentecost”. As a result, more than 3000 people began to join this new following which in its early days was called “the Way”.
Some Roman emperors saw the early Christians as rebels because they refused to worship Roman gods. The Roman authorities persecuted both Christians and Jews, blaming them for their own political disasters. In 70 CE, the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem, hoping that this would rid the Roman Empire of both Christians and Jews alike.
To avoid arrest, Christians often met in secret. They often used secret signs, such as the fish, to show other Christians that it was safe to talk about their faith.
In 313 CE, the Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian and soon made Christianity the legal religion. A few years later in 325 CE Constantine called together other church leaders to Nicea to draw up a statement of Christian belief. This statement of belief is called the Nicean Creed. This then, became the accepted statement of Christianity. This creed included the idea of Trinity, which describes God as three persons in one: Father (creator of all), Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit (God’s continual presence in the world). This is still our central belief in the Christians community.
In the 5th and 6th Centuries the Roman Empire split in two. Constantinople was the capital in the Eastern (or Byzantine) Empire, while Rome became the capitol of the Western Empire. The Christian Church continued to grow and flourish but in 1054 there was a heated dispute between the head of the church in Constantinople (called the Patriarch) and the head of the church in Rome (called the Pope). This caused a great split in the church and even today we speak of the Eastern Orthodox Church and its Patriarch and the Western Church and the Pope. The Church in the west soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church – “catholic” meaning world-wide.
In 1529, King Henry VIII of England challenged the supreme authority of the Pope and declared himself to be the head of the Church in England. Many reforms were made at this time including the changing of the worship from the largely unknown language of Latin to the language of the “common man” – English. One of the great works of this time period was the translation of the bible into English and the writing and publishing of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549. Here, for the first time, there was a compilation of scripture, prayers and the worship of the people in their own native tongue.
Today, branches of the Church of England, also known as Anglican or Episcopalian, are found in many countries of the world. Here in Canada, you can link to the Anglican Church of Canada by visiting the site www.anglican.ca , and to our own “diocese of New Westminster by checking out www.vancouver.anglican.bc.ca
Companion Diocese
Our Diocese, like many in Canada, has a “companion diocese”, a diocese in another part of the Anglican Church with which we have a particular link. People from one diocese often visit one another, share in prayer, and share information and views. In our Diocese of New Westminster, our Companions are the people of the Anglican Diocese of Taiwan.
Every week we pray for each other in our worship and every few years we have a trip planned to visit the Diocese of Taiwan and 3 years ago, there was a group from Taiwan visiting us.
Questions
1. Go to the www.vancouver.anglican.bc.ca site and on the yellow strip click on Resources and scroll to page 9 where you will find a download for “Partnership Sunday Resources” and to the right side of the page, click on the down-facing arrow to see the screen. What you will see here are prayers and “ideas for worship” with a world-wide theme.
Choose one prayer that you like and write it in your blog. Why does it appeal to you? If you would offer prayer for another person or situation, what would it be?
2. St. Mary’s Kerrisdale is our Anglican Church, located on 37th and Larch St. in Vancouver, BC. Check out the web site for the church at www.smkchurch.com and find the Mission statement of the Parish. How does this statement tell others who read it that St. Mary’s Kerrisdale is a Christian church?
3. The Nicene Creed was written long ago as a statement of belief for the Christian community. Do you believe this statement? What parts of it may trouble you? Why?
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5:21 p.m.
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