Difference between Church and Synagogue

Well to help explain, it would be a good question to ask which denomination you belong to.

Jerusalem's christian community is home to many denominations. Catholics, various Orthodox interpretations, Anglicans, Lutherans and so on. The best way to describe the difference is to base it on your own personal experience first.

Hello Pools,

I do not know if there is a big difference between both meeting places, both are for coming together for worship, prayer, teaching and community. I think most churches let families sit together and from the little knowledge I have Synagogues have a custom of separating male and female. Most churches here also welcome other groups from the local area, toddler grouos, craft groups etc during the week if they have a hall and kitchen I do not know if Synagogues do that. Interesting question I look forward to reading the other responses.

Pools said:

Hi everyone, sorry to bother you. I hope you don't mind if I ask another question. I thought there were loads of churches in and around the area where Jesus lived and worked sas to hear there is not a big helpful community for you. We wll need a community!

So, I am a relatively new Christian from a Jewish background. I started conversion about a year and a half ago and I'm doing fine in generally, but I didn't have much time throughout to go to a church much. I grew up near Jerusalem and there aren't many Churches here, but there are about one or two near my neighbourhood for the present small Christian community.

I was hoping to find out what is the difference between the two. As I understand, both are meant for prayer; but, is a Church is for other purposes as well other than prayer? What else does people go to a church for, etc.? I have only been to a church twice in the past year and half, and all I did was participate in the main praying stage, but I had no idea what it's all about and what else does people do inside.

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It depends. I'm Catholic so my parish offers Mass everyday where parishioners can worship. This includes but is not limited to prayer.

There's also Eucharistic adoration, which is specifically for prayer available 24/7.

The parish also offers a bunch of Bible studies. I suppose those would include prayer but the purpose of Bible study is in the name.

There are also charitable activities going on as well.

I'm not sure how that compares to synagogues. Heck, I'm not even sure what purpose synagogues serve in the jewish world but there may be some significant differences between those and churches.

I was born and raised Catholic but Am now a very liberal Protestant. I have attended the worship services of many different denominations and churches and also of other religious beliefs entirely. In many instances I felt a cultural disconnect and even perhaps some discomfort. However, I felt right at home in the synagogue for Shabbat. That is understandable since Christian worship derives from synagogue worship in the early church. I am certain that you will find a church that will feel like home to you.

Pools said:

Hi everyone, sorry to bother you. I hope you don't mind if I ask another question.

So, I am a relatively new Christian from a Jewish background. I started conversion about a year and a half ago and I'm doing fine in generally, but I didn't have much time throughout to go to a church much. I grew up near Jerusalem and there aren't many Churches here, but there are about one or two near my neighbourhood for the present small Christian community.

I was hoping to find out what is the difference between the two. As I understand, both are meant for prayer; but, is a Church is for other purposes as well other than prayer? What else does people go to a church for, etc.? I have only been to a church twice in the past year and half, and all I did was participate in the main praying stage, but I had no idea what it's all about and what else does people do inside.

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We should be praying all the time (1 Thess 5:17), so I wouldn't say the purpose of the church is prayer. I always thought the primary purpose of a church was to show my appreciation to the Lord. However, the church is much more than that to me. Had I not had a church, the loneliness I might have experienced when my Dad died or brother moved far away might have been difficult to bear. And the church offers me opportunities to do constructive things, which make me feel important. I am part of a Bible study where we exchange our thoughts. I sing in the choir - I love to sing.

Pools said:

Hi everyone, sorry to bother you. I hope you don't mind if I ask another question.

So, I am a relatively new Christian from a Jewish background. I started conversion about a year and a half ago and I'm doing fine in generally, but I didn't have much time throughout to go to a church much. I grew up near Jerusalem and there aren't many Churches here, but there are about one or two near my neighbourhood for the present small Christian community.

I was hoping to find out what is the difference between the two. As I understand, both are meant for prayer; but, is a Church is for other purposes as well other than prayer? What else does people go to a church for, etc.? I have only been to a church twice in the past year and half, and all I did was participate in the main praying stage, but I had no idea what it's all about and what else does people do inside.

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Hi Pools,

I had the pleasure of working on a kibbutz in Ramat Rachel back in the summer of 1991. I attended a mixed congregation of messianic Jews and gentiles at the YMCA across from the King David hotel in Jerusalem called the King of Kings Church. It was wonderful. Perhaps it is still there?

Gentile believers in Yeshua copied the synagogue format when they began to assemble in buildings set apart from homes. The Early Church of messianic believers met in both homes and the Temple before it was razed and the Early Gentile Church met in homes for the first century. Later a Greek Orator named Chrysostom (means "Golden Tongue" as a recognition of his eloquence) saw an opportunity to continue making his living preaching the gospel to believer (the gospel is meant for unbelievers) thus patterned his meetings upon the synagogue format. The synagogue, of course, has no biblical support but was introduced by the Babylonian exiles since they had no Temple to attend, nor could they offer up blood sacrifice in Babylon.

The English word "Church" comes from the German "kirk" which meas "house" and came to mean the "house of God". The human body is the house of God, of course, since God does not dwell in buildings of brick and stone. However, the practice of saying that we are going to church (when in truth we are the church) was begun by Augustine, or someone of that generation.

We are to assemble together, otherwise, how can we love one another? But the format of church is not at all conducive to loving one another, although it has some usefulness. Loving one another and body ministry such as described in Corinthians, is found in home fellowships.

Blessings to you. Put your trust in Yeshua, not men.

Pools said:

Hi everyone, sorry to bother you. I hope you don't mind if I ask another question.

So, I am a relatively new Christian from a Jewish background. I started conversion about a year and a half ago and I'm doing fine in generally, but I didn't have much time throughout to go to a church much. I grew up near Jerusalem and there aren't many Churches here, but there are about one or two near my neighbourhood for the present small Christian community.

I was hoping to find out what is the difference between the two. As I understand, both are meant for prayer; but, is a Church is for other purposes as well other than prayer? What else does people go to a church for, etc.? I have only been to a church twice in the past year and half, and all I did was participate in the main praying stage, but I had no idea what it's all about and what else does people do inside.

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The Greek word "ekklesia" is translated as "church" or "assembly" and is used many times in the Septuagint to refer to the assembly of Israel in the wilderness, but it has been inconsistently translated in the NT as "church" only when it refers to a meeting of Christian believers and as "assembly" everywhere else, so it refers to the same concept, but "church" as come to refer to a specific form of "ekklesia" that is an assembly of Christian believers, and has also become a term for the assembly place where Christian believers come to worship and receive religious instruction. A synagogue is the Jewish equivalent. Naturally we have developed different traditions for how to worship and receive religious instruction, such as some having a liturgy, while others do not, but that is a broad enough definition to cover both a church and a synagogue.

Aimz said:

Hello Pools,

I do not know if there is a big difference between both meeting places, both are for coming together for worship, prayer, teaching and community. I think most churches let families sit together and from the little knowledge I have Synagogues have a custom of separating male and female. Most churches here also welcome other groups from the local area, toddler grouos, craft groups etc during the week if they have a hall and kitchen I do not know if Synagogues do that. Interesting question I look forward to reading the other responses.

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One very important distinction is which Bible Testaments are taken as authoritative.

Pools said:

Thanks mates. So from what I understand, you just come to pray in the church then go back home?

Anyone know if there's a specific day in the week? Or it is a daily thing, they come to pray everyday have lectures, etc.?

Are there speeches or lectures by a pastor or priest as well, etc.?

I heard of churches you can only come on Sundays, and all the other days of the week the church is closed, except for singing, wonder if that's true.

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Just come to pray and then go home? I think you have it wrong. For one thing, a group of people maintain the church, and you ought to be a part of that group. But there's a lot more to a church than that.

There's a lot more than prayer that goes on in a church. There is singing, there is teaching/preaching, sometimes there are events after the service.

Within Christianity, there are many different traditions for church services. There are "high church" traditions that are more liturgical in the way they are structured - Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, etc. And then there are "low church" traditions which are not at all liturgical, they seek to teach Christianity in a different way, just as Jesus taught the people in parables to reach them, the heart behind it is to make Christianity easier for people to "get". Baptist, Pentecostal, etc use this approach. They are very different expressions of the Christian faith, and there are plenty of differences between churches in the same "high church/low church" category.

One of the big differences between a Church - which I assume you mean as a big buildling with a cross on top that where people worship on Sundays - and a Synagogue is that Synagogues are in the Bible and Churches are not. The word Church is a translation from the word ecclesia which simply means a gathering of believers at any time any place.

Though the Churches have done innumerable wonderful things, often, it is not really Biblical to tell people to go to Church. There simply is no such commandment and the early believers never heard of such a place. They met in Synagogues or went to others homes for worship.
This gets into the whole issue of what is the Sabbath, too.

Churches too often may teach that the Law has been done away with. Can you murder now, or covet, or bow down to other gods?
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Yes, we are saved solely by faith in the Isaiah 53 Savior. However, He said "If you love Me, keep My Commandments." His Commandments are the same as His Father's as They are One. The Bible says that the Almighty "will not alter what goes out of His mouth." If that is not true, the Bible is not reliable. At Mt. Sinai, to the ears of the terrified Israelites below, He audibly spoke the 10 Commandments. This included a Fri. nightfall to Sat. nightfall Sabbath. NOTHING in the Bible says the Sabbath was changed to Sunday..
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People say "Paul said....Paul said..." But Paul said to follow the Savior, not him, and anyway Paul never said the Sabbath was changed and certainly had no authority to change what was audibly spoken by our Creator and written on stone with His very finger. When he said "Let no man judge you" he was talking to new converts and encouraging them in their observance, not NON observance, of the Biblical holy days, i.e. to not give into pagan peer pressures.

. Throughout the New Testament you can see that the apostles, including Paul, actually kept the Mosaic Law. In Acts 15, for example, "even" the food laws are upheld and yes, for NON Jewish converts. We see there that blood is still forbidden and that the new converts are expected to be, as was the tradition, in Synagogues, on the Sabbath, to learn the rest of the Law of Moses. In Acts 21 we see that Paul, and all those in the Jerusalem Council, upheld the Law of Moses and Paul took an oath to demonstrate that.
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Read the false accusations spoken against Stephen. He was falsely accused of saying that our Savior came to do away with the Law of Moses. Acts 6:11-14. Further, our Savior affirmed the Sabbath by telling his followers, about the time when the Temple would be destroyed - after His Ascension - "Pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath." He wanted them to be able to rest on the Sabbath in the future, as always in the past. . You can see some RCC leaders online admitting to the fact that the Bible does not sanction a Sunday Sabbath, but that Protestants keep it anyway since - guess who changed it? ROME, under the pagan sun worshipper Constantine, changed it over a millenium ago. Constantine said that Christians were to be executed if they kept the true Sabbath and said they needed to rest "on the venerable day of the sun." Check it out.
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Sun...day. It's not the Sabbath. However, the Father of Mercies knows we are all confused children. We need not to turn on others about it, therefore, but to show love. If we do not, no matter what we do it's all a waste, certainly not the path to Heaven. Yet, if you want to move away from "traditions of men" to the real truths of the real Bible, I recommend 119 Ministries' vids, starting with The Pauline Paradox. . And yes, you can rest or worship on any day of the week, but you are not supposed to...work...or cook...on the Sabbath - neither you nor those in your home, nor any servants (think waitresses and sales clerks etc.). Not even animals are to work then, or be penned up then. In fact, in Isaiah we are told to keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord and also not to buy or sell on that day.
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The Sabbath is the longest Commandment and is stated in the Bible to be the very sign given to Israel of their Covenant with Him. (The New Testament tells us to be grafted into what? Israel.) Other nations had laws against murder and theft for example. Only those who wanted to Covenant with YHWH, aka God, were asked to keep the Sabbath. In the New Testament we are told to be grafted into Israel.. The 4th Commandment is not a suggestion. And no, I'm not a 7th Day Adventist. You don't need a "religion". You just need the Bible and the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I pray you will be led to keep the Sabbath kodesh, set apart, holy,

AlexDTX said:

Hi Pools,

I had the pleasure of working on a kibbutz in Ramat Rachel back in the summer of 1991. I attended a mixed congregation of messianic Jews and gentiles at the YMCA across from the King David hotel in Jerusalem called the King of Kings Church. It was wonderful. Perhaps it is still there?

Gentile believers in Yeshua copied the synagogue format when they began to assemble in buildings set apart from homes. The Early Church of messianic believers met in both homes and the Temple before it was razed and the Early Gentile Church met in homes for the first century. Later a Greek Orator named Chrysostom (means "Golden Tongue" as a recognition of his eloquence) saw an opportunity to continue making his living preaching the gospel to believer (the gospel is meant for unbelievers) thus patterned his meetings upon the synagogue format. The synagogue, of course, has no biblical support but was introduced by the Babylonian exiles since they had no Temple to attend, nor could they offer up blood sacrifice in Babylon.

The English word "Church" comes from the German "kirk" which meas "house" and came to mean the "house of God". The human body is the house of God, of course, since God does not dwell in buildings of brick and stone. However, the practice of saying that we are going to church (when in truth we are the church) was begun by Augustine, or someone of that generation.

We are to assemble together, otherwise, how can we love one another? But the format of church is not at all conducive to loving one another, although it has some usefulness. Loving one another and body ministry such as described in Corinthians, is found in home fellowships.

Blessings to you. Put your trust in Yeshua, not men.

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I enjoyed your post but have to take exception with one thing. The Synagogue is definitely seen in the Bible. Here is just one example, referring to new converts, from Acts 15:
21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
However, I am not saying that believers in Yahushuah should go to a Synagogue since they do not have people in them who believe in Him.

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AlexDTX said:

Thank you for pointing this out.

However, when I said, "The synagogue, of course, has no biblical support but was introduced by the Babylonian exiles since they had no Temple to attend, nor could they offer up blood sacrifice in Babylon." I was not saying that it was not mentioned in the Bible, only that there is no directive from the TANAK or the New Testament as to that being how God wants us to assemble. It was a natural format already established, so readily adopted by my gentile forefathers. Our manner of assembly has been left up to us, and the Corinthian epistles indicate that the early gentile followers of Yeshua met in homes first with an active body ministry.

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Yes, we are not commanded to be in a Synagogue, just as we are not commanded to be in a Church. However, not to be argumentative, but we do see believers in Yahushuah meeting in Synagogues, and not just in homes, in the New Testament. But times were different then.

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Pools said:

Speaking of messianic jews, are they regarded as Christians who simply wish to retain the jewish traditions, etc., or are just normal jews who are aware of who the messiah is?

The concept is very confusing me; because Judaism claims Jesus didnt have what it takes to be the awaited messiah, so you cant consider yourself a jew if you accept him as a messiah. scriptures described this somewhere...

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I am called Messianic here because that was the closest title to fit what I am. However, I prefer the term 'Torah observant believer in Messiah". And I am not Jewish. The term Messianic can mean different things to different folk, which is why I don't like it much.

Both non Jewish and Jewish believers in Yahushuah who follow Torah are against traditions. It is traditions that we want to escape. The Savior came down the hardest on those Pharisees who made up their oral laws and went by those instead of the true Word. He told them "You nullify the Word for the sake of your traditions."

We don't believe that there is a disconnect between the Old Testament and the New Testament. We belive in a Fri. eve to Sat. eve Sabbath. We stick to the food laws. We keep the Holy Days as best we can given that we are usually not in Israel.

We believe that Yahushuah, aka Jesus, is the promised Messiah and Savior, King of kings and Lamb of YHWH, aka God.

As I mentioined in another string to you, Psalm 119 Ministrires is a great resource for looking at what the Bible really says, not what traditions of men say. They are totally scholarly, classsy, interesting and Torah observant. I'm pretty sure they are not Jewish. Most "Messianics" are not Jewish maybe because Jews are a minority compared to non Jews.

Here is just one example of how traditions of men over rule what the Bible really says, in Christianity. We are told we can eat anything now, pork, whatver, based on Peter's meat on the sheet dream. However...in Scriptures if you really look you will see that the Bible always gives the interpretation for the dreams. Pharoah's baker's dream had bread in it but no way was about food.
Likewise, Peter's meat on the sheet dream was not about food. We are give the interpreation, twice, for what the dream meant with the words "This means...." There is absolutely no mention of food at all. Instead what is mentioned are gentiles being accepted into the faith.

The Bible says "YHWH never changes." We accept that.

I have already gone over how the Bible never, ever, says the Sabbath is on Sunday and how people misinterpret what Paul said. Also, they make Paul into a kind of Deity since he had no authority whatsoever to change what the Almighty and His Son always reinforced.

Traditions of men are seen in both mainstream Christianity and in Judaism. Again, Psalm 119 is great to answer any questions about what a Torah observant Christian believes, based on Scriptures.