Ethnography. People are Attending Religious Services on Sunday Research Paper

Ethnography. People are Attending Religious Services on Sunday - Research Paper Example The main purpose behind conducting a comprehensive research on this topic includes the exploring the general views and opinions of the church attendants about their religious belief and its impact on their social, professional and domestic life. The study is also interested in finding out the people’s level of satisfaction regarding the religious services being offered at modern churches. The paper also throws light on the reasons behind the considerable decrease in the number of the people attending the religious services in the churches of London city. The research will be conducted in Kensington and Chelsea districts of London city, over 58% population of which consists of the followers of various Christian sects. Thesis Statement: It is a universally accepted notion that performing of religious obligations and praying to God en masse serves as a source of mental relief and spiritual uplift for humans. Somehow, the trends of collective prayers are in decline during the cont emporary era. People’s engagement in financial activities, absence of encouragement from the elders, and flow of various foreign ethno-racial and religious groups have decreased the people’s interest in attending religious services at the church (Barnes & Lowry, 2006, p.1). ... In that context, the term is most closely related to ‘trust’ – trusting God and God’s promises. In this sense, faith is more of an attitude than a state of belief or knowledge.† (Lacewing, 2006, p.1) By looking into the available statistics on faiths and religions, it becomes crystal clear that there exist hundreds of belief systems, (Trimarco, 2005, p.1), the followers of which make over six billion in number. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism and others are among the most dominant faiths of the world; while Christianity is the most popular one in respect of the number of followers at global perspective. History shows that the apostles and saints underwent severe trials for the projection and promotion of Christianity; it is therefore the religion witnessed unabated growth all over the globe. Somehow, the followers of Christianity are stated to be observing lack of interest in going to the churches for prayers and meditation, as Midwest Diocese Organisation states: â€Å"Church is place where the Holy Spirit dwells in God’s people as they respond to His call to salvation and eternal life.† Taking the phenomenon as a challenging issue in Kensington and Chelsea districts of the London city, I have decided to conduct a participant observation of the religious rituals performed by the Christians on Sundays at church. Brief Overview to Christianity: The Christian faith is the second one in the list of three Abrahamic faiths, along with Judaism and Islam (Latourette, 1975, p. 8). It maintains unconditional belief in the divinity and Oneness of God; and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as the two other members of Holy Trinity. Christianity seeks spiritual guidance from the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments. The