Spencer Caceda

Mrs. Lucarelli
Senior Seminar
15 January 2017
Religious Ceremony Reflection
On Sunday January 15th, I attended the 8:30 service at Monmouth Worship Center.
This was my first time in a church and first time attending another religious service other
than my own religion. The experience was very enjoyable and above all, eye opening.
The first half hour of the ceremony was simply a musical performance by a band
of kids, led by the lead singer, an African American woman. The group opened with a
song called In Jesus Name followed by I Am A Friend of God and Your Presence Is
Heaven to Me. After the music, one of the female pastors led a moment of prayer for
people who needed it. Those who needed prayer raised their hand as the group of pastors
went one by one comforting them as they wept.
After prayer, the assistant head pastor took over the stage. He started preaching
about Philippians and how people should be thankful for diversity and that they should all
love each other. He honored Dr. Martin Luther King by calling up a woman named
Latifa, who proudly spoke of Dr. Kings connection with Christ. The pastor further
explained how the next generation will fix all of the problems of the world. He thanked
the Church for being so great and then had his faculty walk around with jars accepting
offerings to be donated for the upkeep of the building. I donated $1 and felt good about
myself.

The head pastor spent the remaining time left talking about the power of scripture.
He talked about how memorizing and reciting scripture out loud was the most powerful
weapon. He used the phrase drawing your sword and using a concealed weapon to
show how the reciting of scripture can act as a defense mechanism. He urged the crowd
to cite scripture if anyone tried to tempt them in to doing something wrong. The pastor
explained how Jesus fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the Devil several times.
However, he quoted from scripture so that he wouldnt be tempted. The pastors last
words were the most powerful. He said that the world is at a spiritual warfare with very
real forces. He made it clear that the Devil was real and that everyone has power over his/
her own destiny.
The entire religious ceremony was a fresh experience that I was never exposed to
before. Although I practice Judaism, I fully accept and appreciate Christianity and its
devote followers. Once I left, one of the female pastors handed me a booklet and said she
would love for me to come back. I might just take her up on the offer!