For my place of worship, I chose the Central Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Clayton. As I walked up to this unfamiliar church I noticed that it didn't look too much different than the Catholic buildings I am used to seeing. I don't know much about building structure but it seemed to be gothic with a touch of baroque and it had beautiful stained glass windows like most Catholic churches do. From an outsider's perspective this could have actually been a church of my own denomination but I was soon snapped back into reality as the mass proceeded.
As I walked in, wondering if I should make the sign of the cross or genuflect, I was escorted to a seat in one of the back pews. Soon the preacher and members of the choir were speedily walking down the aisle. I found this rather odd, since I am used to seeing the priest and the servers in robes walking somberly to the front of the church. As the people took their places, a man who was not the reverend welcomed everyone while incorporating some of the liturgy into his speech. He pointed out the main points of the Word in an exciting manner, which I thought was interesting. I liked how he automatically drew the people into what the whole sermon would be about as if giving them anticipation to hear what the reverend would soon preach about. While it may have been normal to them I found it intriguing because I am used to saying the ritualistic prayers at the beginning of mass as usual. After this welcome I was expecting to hear the readings of the Scripture as I am accustomed to but this did not happen. Instead a series of songs were sung, led by the choir, which was very good. All of the church members seemed to really get into singing the songs and if they didn't know the words they were eager to read from their hymnal books. This was also a different atmosphere for me. In my church, the choir is at the back and while they are very good, they don't actually lead us in song and not everyone enjoys singing so it was a nice change of scenery.
