what do you do in a church.Ive never been in one before. my uncles funeral is in one and Im sort a clueless in the matter. do i have to do anything? its a catholic church, wiht an out doors lowering and what not. anywasy I appreciate the asistance, I dont want to make fool of myself.
Goes without saying that every other Church is different. Some more than others. In your case it will go something like this: The Church will already be open a good hour before you arrive. There is usually never a queue (line up) but you might find the Priest is shaking peoples hands as they go inside. People just kinda take their seats informally. There are no seating assignments so just sit where you like. You will possibly be given a little 'schedule' but dont bother spending too much effort analysing it - most everything will just happen and you can just go along with it. Usually a Hymn starts things off - The Priest will come out and say some 'Hello' to the crowd. Depending on the service you will occasionally see people lighting candles or moving objects around on a table. Just wait. The Priest will begin to speak and this is the Sermon. Now, you may sing another hymn or two and see them arrainging some plates and cups etc. Dont panic. Two things might happen. The parishioners will begin going up front in an orderly fashion, kneeling at the front where the Priest feeds you a wafer and gives you a drink of wine. Otherwise,,, sometimes the Priest might actually walk out to certain areas and people will go stand in line for a drink of wine and a wafer. Personally I find that a little unnerving because Im not comfortable with people putting food in my mouth or controlling the cup as I drink lol. After that... you will be seated again and ushers will pass around shiny plates. This is an 'Offering' and congregation members usually put envelopes of money or bills/change into the plate. (just pass it along unless its one of those superlong handled ones the usher is holding) Oh.. did I mention the Kneeling? You might see these little 'kneeling pads' in front of you pew. These are for kneeling. Catholic Churches love kneeling a lot - so just follow along with the rest of them when they do it lol. The Priest might ask you to shake hands with someone next to you at some point. Usually ends with a nice hymn and everyone files out after that.
Yer going to church is nothing really, and catholic church is a pretty simple one, compared to some orthadox and stuff. Just follow everyone else. If your just going for teh funeral you really dont have to do anything at all except be respectful and quiet. Like, if your not a christian, you dont pray, and you dont have to sing or anything like that. But you can sit quietly and mourn and stuff. Dont be obliged to anything except respecting the importance of teh church to christians. Often, at funerals, since im assuming your not the only atheist going there, they will tell u waht to do anyway.
well if i never know the words i just lower my head. you have to kneel every so often and stuff and shake the hands of people when the preist says to offer the sign of peace to eachother and you just say peace be with you. but you'll be fine...
