Ancient World

Sacred Space Visitation

Name: Aryana Aziz
Name of Church/Temple/Synagogue/Mosque/etc. you visited: Unitarian Church
Location: Summit, NJ
Date of Visit: May 10th, 2015
Friends or family whom you visited this place of worship with: Antonia Park
Answer the following with more depth:
1. What impressed you about your visit?
I thought that this church was very interesting, especially since I had never been
to a church service before. When I went, it was for a mothers day celebration
service and there was a lot of singing and storytelling. It was interesting how so
many children came to the service and performed as well.
2. In what ways was this place of worship different from your religious
traditions?
Seeing a church service was very different from a typical service at a Hindu
temple. At my temple, offerings are made to the God in the form of fruit and
money, but at church there was no offering made to God but money was given to
help support the church itself. Also, at a Hindu temple, the priests walk around
with holy water, a candle, and a crown to bless all of the people watching the
service. At the church, this did not happen but it was a blessing just to be a part of
the service.
3. Can you briefly describe some of the parts of the service? (ie: leaders, music,
prayers, readings, congregational participation, etc.)
At the church, there was a priest that led the service. There were readings from
the Bible that described relationships with mothers, since it was mothers day.
Many young children performed music through singing or playing an instrument
at the service, and at the end, the song Hallelujah was sung by everybody who
knew the words. Also towards, the end, everybody stood up and joined hands
forming a strong sense of unity throughout the church.
4. In what ways did the physical space enrich the spiritual experience?
The physical space enriched the spiritual experience in many ways. There were
portraits all around the church with different aspects of Christianity portrayed in

them. Also, it was a very small space where everyone had come together and this
created a sense of unity throughout the space and the people.
5. Was this a worthwhile experience for you? In what ways, yes? In what ways,
no?
This was definitely a worthwhile experience for me because I had never been to
see a church service before. While I understood the religion itself through our
studies in class, this experience allowed me to look at the religion in a different
way.
This visit to a church applies to the Legacy Project because an important part of
the project was making connections between different religions, cultures, and parts of
history. When I went to see a church service, I was connecting and comparing my
religion and sacred space, to Christianity and the church I visited. Overall, the sacred
space visit helped me make connection to my culture, and that relates to an important part
of the Legacy Project.