On Monday we presented our church visits to sectarian style churches. I enjoyed these presentations because I am more familiar with denominational churches, therefore I learned a lot from these presentations. I thought it was interesting that our class visited churches that varied in demographics, attendance, location, and teachings. For example the church service I attended at the Redlands Christian Center was small and blatantly conservative in beliefs while the Sandal’s church appeared to have a large, younger crowed and displayed their worldview in a different fashion. However, each church had teachings that were similar across the board. For example, all of the churches made it evident that accepting Jesus into one’s life is crucial in salvation, and the born again theme appeared to be reoccurring as well. Overall, I enjoyed the broad spectrum of churches that the class visited, and I felt it gave a nice variety of sectarian style churches.

For Wednesday, we listened to a talk on the spiritual lives and worldview of Catholic workers on Skid Row, by Jim Spickard. I thought that this talk was fascinating, as it gave a detailed portrayal of the worldview of these religious people. From watching presentations on sectarian churches to learning about the Catholic workers on Skid Row, there were very different belief systems and worldview for two groups. It’s interesting that both of these groups consider themselves Christian, but have vastly different beliefs.