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Our Building

As you can see from the picture, our building does not look like other church premises. It is quite modern and plain. This is because it is only about thirty years old, and because Pentecostals do not feel that expensive buildings are very important.

If you compare the inside of our building with that of other denominations, you will notice that it is much plainer. There are no statues because the Ten Commandments forbid making images for use in worship. There is little decoration because we believe God is more interested in the inside of people's hearts than in beautiful church buildings. We do not believe that God lives inside our building- He is only there when His worshippers are there.

On the outside of the building we have a large board and an electronic sign in the top window that has a Bible verse on it. This is because we want as many people as possible to read God's message in the Bible for themselves. We even hope that some of them might become Christians because of it.

The Pulpit

The main feature of the building is the pulpit. This is the reading desk from which the minister preaches from the Bible. Some churches have a lectern (a place where the Bible is read) and a pulpit- but we just have the one.

The preacher or minister will read from the Bible and then preach (explain) the passage to the people in the church. This will often last for 30-45 minutes. Some people in the congregation like to make notes because they wish to go home and study the passage in more detail. Some people think that God talks to them through the preacher as he explains the Bible. Our pulpit is very modern, but other pulpits are made of wood and are more traditional.

The Pastor

The minister in a Pentecostal church is often called a "pastor": this word means shepherd, and suggests that he is there to look after the people in his church. Pentecostals do not call him a priest. This is because the Bible teaches the "priesthood of all believers"- this means that every Christian is a priest. The pastor shows this by not wearing any vestments or special robes- just an ordinary suit.

Water Baptism

On the platform beneath the pulpit is our baptistery. This is a tank built into the church that can be filled with water. Several times a year, new Christians will be baptised by being completely submerged. This is called "baptism by immersion" or "adult baptism"- because we do not believe that it is right to baptise a baby who cannot make a decision for itself.

Before someone is baptised, they testify before the congregation that they have repented of their sin and have been born-again (become a Christian). Going down under the water represents dying to the old, sinful way of life. Being brought up represents beginning a new life, and anticipates the day when all the dead will be resurrected (brought back to life in a bodily form).

Communion

Behind the pulpit is the communion table. It is where the bread and wine is kept for communion (sometimes called "the breaking of bread"). This commemorates Jesus' Last Supper with His disciples at which he predicted His death. The broken bread represents his broken body on the cross, and the wine represents His blood that was shed. These symbols help people to remember what Jesus did for them.

The communion table is not an altar like Anglican and Roman Catholic churches have. This is because we believe that the bread and wine do not actually turn into Jesus' body and blood (transubstantiation): we only believe that they symbolise these things.

Although we think that communion is important, we think that preaching from God's Word (the Bible) is even more important. We show this by preaching from the pulpit three times a week, but having communion only once.

During communion, four men called stewards pass around the little trays containing the bread.

We use Jewish Matzos (unleavened) bread which is the type Jesus probably used at the Last Supper.

The wine is then passed round. We use little, individual cups for two reasons: It is more hygienic and it shows that all people are individuals before God.

The wine does not contain alcohol as many Pentecostal Christians are tee-total.

Tithes and Offerings

During the Sunday meeting, the stewards will come around with blue bags for people to put their tithes and offerings in. A tithe is 10% of someone's income and an offering is anything else they give in addition to their tithe. Nobody is forced to give money; it is entirely optional. The money is used to pay for the upkeep of the building, for the minister and for the good causes the church supports. Pentecostals do not agree with fundraising for the church's work such as jumble sales: they believe that people should put such money in the offering bags.

Bibles

Many Pentecostals like to bring their own Bibles to church. However, there are a number of spare ones kept at that back that people can borrow and read from during the service.

Some people like to use the Authorised King James Version; others like to use more modern versions. These shelves contain a mixture of both.

Worship

During the meeting or service, we will often sing hymns from a book and more modern worship songs (sometimes called 'choruses') from the multimedia screen. The music is fairly modern and we have a range of instruments including pianos, trumpets and guitars.

Some people like to pray in tongues during the meetings. This is because they believe they have been given this 'gift' from God as described in 1 Corinthians 12 in the Bible. Pentecostals believe that such gifts and miracles described in the Bible can, and still do, happen today. They are often given by God when a Christian has been baptised in the Holy Spirit.

Women's Roles

Some Pentecostal churches choose not to appoint women to pastoral positions in accordance with St Paul's teaching that a woman should not usurp authority over a man. (1 Corinthians 14, 1 Timothy 2.) We at Elim Blackburn also follow this principal as we believe all scriptures (the Bible) to be inspired by God and thus try to put the words of the Bible into practice. There are many roles that we appoint women to- such as lead the singing, run the junior church (or Sunday School) and count the money. They also vote at the annual general meeting (a meeting at which lots of important things are decided) if they are members of the church.

Some women choose to wear hats while they are in church. This is not just tradition or fashion, but because St. Paul seems to teach such a practice in 1 Corinthians 11.

Liberal or Conservative?

Some GCSE courses require you to know that not all Christians understand the Bible in the same way. At a basic level, there are two groups: liberal and conservative.

Liberals do not take much of the Bible as literal truth, suggesting that many of the miracle stories are parables or made-up accounts that are designed to teach a point. For example, a liberal would say that the miracle of Jesus feeding 5000 with a few loaves and fish did not actually take place: it was inserted into the Bible because it shows its readers that God will provide for them.

Conservatives believe that such a passage accurately describes a real event. Jesus really did perform miracles because a) He is the Son of God and can over-rule the laws of nature should He so choose and b) the Bible is God's word and so it never misleads or tells lies. This does not mean that there is no symbolism in such passages, but that it can be understood as a real account of what happened.

Pentecostals are invariably conservative Christians. We believe the Bible is perfect and 100% true. Jesus did, and still does, perform miracles.