Visit a Western religious institution that you do not belong to (for the purpose of our course “western” refers to Indigenous Religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam).
Religion and Culture in Canada
PART 1: Write a reflection paper (approximately 950 words) that reflects your experience at this religious institution. Your reflection paper will include all of the following information:
• State the name of the place of worship you visited, its address, and the religion and denomination of its congregation (i.e. Christian, Roman Catholic). Include one or more photographs of the religious place of worship you ‘visited’.
• Discuss the ways your experience in this particular space made you reconsider your views about this religion, or religion in general.
• Compare your experience of this particular space to how this religion is viewed either in the media, or your own congregation/community.
PART 2: Your paper should also reflect on all of the following topics (approximately 600 words):
• the people attending and caring for the institution you visited (e.g., their rituals, beliefs and the reasons why they belong to this institution)
• the architecture of the building and the design of the rooms (e.g., such as how the physical layout of the affects forms of worship)
• the forms of worship (e.g., prayer, meditation, song, sermons and communal eating)
• what this experience taught you about this religion’s beliefs and traditions that you were not aware of prior to visiting this institution.
• how this experience challenged (or reaffirmed) your prejudices/beliefs about religion and religious practices.