Religions Field Trip

Al Huda Islamic Center. This was the first place we visited. Being a Muslim mosque, it is a place of ritual prayers. Prayer is such an important part of their gatherings, that the carpet is patterned in a way that gives each person their own prayer space on the floor. It was interesting that it wasn’t very flashy or ornate, except for the gold colored throne which sat in front of the congregation. This is used by the member of the congregation who is leading the prayers. The men who showed us around were very kind and even brought us bottled water and cheese.

Congregation of Children of Israel. This was the second place we visited. Being a Jewish synagogue it was a very patriotic place, which showed both their patriotism to America and to Israel, their religion’s sacred Promised Land. The Torah is the sacred book of Judaism. There was one, which was most likely the most important object in the building. It was made from animal skins that had been made into a very large scroll, which had the entire Torah printed on it in Hebrew, the language of the Jews. You could tell that the scroll was very important to Rabbi Gerson, who was the leader of the congregation.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. This was the third place we visited. Being a Catholic church it had very beautiful stain glass windows, and these depicted points in the life of Jesus Christ. A very important object in this building was the Tabernacle. This is a small cabinet that housed both the bread and the wine that is consumed during the ceremonial Lord’s Supper. This is also believed to be the main place in which the Holy Spirit resides within the church. The Holy Spirit being in the Tabernacle is what Catholics believe causes the transubstantiation, which is where during the Lord’s Supper the bread and the wine actually become Christ’s body and blood. This was my personal favorite of the three places and I really enjoyed deacon Grutsch’s presentation.