Churches

[Carrye]

Are your church buildings open during the day for people to come in and pray? Would going to a church to pray be seen as different from praying in another place? I guess I was wondering because most Catholic churches remain open during the day for people to come in and visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. That not being the case for Baptists, would a Baptist find himself going to church during the day to pray?

 

[BT]

Are your church buildings open during the day for people to come in and pray? Would going to a church to pray be seen as different from praying in another place? I guess I was wondering because most Catholic churches remain open during the day for people to come in and visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. That not being the case for Baptists, would a Baptist find himself going to church during the day to pray?

It depends mostly on the size and wishes of the congregation. Personally my church is open everyday, all day, for the most part. We do not go to the church to pray though. Now if someone wanted to go and sit in the sanctuary and pray no one would stop them, but it's just something that we don't do.

To us there is no significance in where we pray, only that we pray. A prayer is not "more" of a prayer if we do it in the church, the church to us is simply where we meet, no more, no less. So a Baptist probably wouldn't make a trip to church during the day to pray, he/she would just stay home and pray, or pray at work, or at the park, or where ever else they may be...

 

[Carrye]

It depends mostly on the size and wishes of the congregation. Personally my church is open everyday, all day, for the most part. We do not go to the church to pray though. Now if someone wanted to go and sit in the sanctuary and pray no one would stop them, but it's just something that we don't do.

Is the church open then, because the pastor is there, as a sort of place where his office is contained?

 

[eldermike]

My church offices are open all day. There are scheduled events all week in the church, something every night of the week. The building is designed for many uses. We have a coffee house ministry where the chairs are replaced with tables and we have live music. We also have other types of meetings from the local community, as long as it's a non-profit ministry we will host it. We make our space availabe, all you need to do is get on the very busy schedule. There are not many open days on the schedule. Our vision of the church building is a center for activities that make use of the gifts that God has given to each member.

 

[Carrye]

The building is designed for many uses.

Ah, yes! I had forgotten about this aspect. Catholic churches are typically designed for one thing, and have other areas for specifically social events. What you have said makes sense.

 

[GreenEyedLady]

Are your church buildings open during the day for people to come in and pray? Would going to a church to pray be seen as different from praying in another place? I guess I was wondering because most Catholic churches remain open during the day for people to come in and visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. That not being the case for Baptists, would a Baptist find himself going to church during the day to pray?

Clskinner,
I might be wrong in your perception of the way you pray and visit Jesus. So please bear with me and forgive me if I am wrong.
Because we are born again believers who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, we don't visit Jesus at church because HE is in us. Being born again means that we are sealed by the holy spirit and that Christ is in us always until the day of redemption. We are sealed with the holy spirit. Our prayers are heard whether we are in church or not.
However, One thing that we do to get God's attention and let Him know we are serious is by fasting with praying just like they did in the bible. Everyone has thier prayer closet, I feel more comfortable in my private closet, some might feel more comfortable in a church depending on thier habits.
GEL

 

[Carrye]

Peace be with you, GEL.

Because we are born again believers who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, we don't visit Jesus at church because HE is in us. Being born again means that we are sealed by the holy spirit and that Christ is in us always until the day of redemption. We are sealed with the holy spirit. Our prayers are heard whether we are in church or not.

While I would not label myself as "born again" because it often implies that one is not Catholic, I would not disagree with any of what you have said above. I would refine it a bit, however.

I would say that I am redeemed by the blood of Christ (I'm sure you've been beaten to death with this distinction already, so I'll spare you!). I would also say that Christ is surely in me, but as a Catholic I also believe that He is found in the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, in the tabernacle at my parish. So while he is in me, he is in the Eucharist in a different way than he is in me. You can see, that because of the Catholic belief that Christ is substantially present in the Eucharist, then for a Catholic, visiting a church is truly visiting Christ.

And I agree - prayers need not be uttered in a church to be heard. But now I hope you can see why visiting a church would be important for a Catholic, for it is the place where Christ himself is present in an exemplary way.

My OP was really the result of a realization today. I have always been Catholic, and so I just realized that other denominations would probably have little need to keep their churches open all day. So my question was really a rather practical one: Would a Baptist visit a church to pray?

Peace,
Carrie

 

[eldermike]

As it was stated by Greeneyedlady, God is in us, if God is present in a building it's because someone brought him in. Daniel took Jesus into a furnace. God knew He was going to the furnace, but God did not leave Daniel even in the fire. Tomorrow morning, if the Lord wakes me, I will go with Him to work.

 

[BT]

My church offices are open all day. There are scheduled events all week in the church, something every night of the week. The building is designed for many uses. We have a coffee house ministry where the chairs are replaced with tables and we have live music. We also have other types of meetings from the local community, as long as it's a non-profit ministry we will host it. We make our space availabe, all you need to do is get on the very busy schedule. There are not many open days on the schedule. Our vision of the church building is a center for activities that make use of the gifts that God has given to each member.

Sounds like an amazing ministry you guys have going on over there. The Lord Bless you !

 

[BT]

Is the church open then, because the pastor is there, as a sort of place where his office is contained?

That's one reason yes. The Pastor's office is there and we have a secretary who is there to take care of administrative things. Our Pastor also does counselling there during the week so he keeps appointments there. The church is open to anyone who wants to go there during the week as well. You don't need an appointment. Our church library is one place that I visit several times during the week personally. During the summer months our youth have things going on and there are often music practices and such...

 

[daveleau]

Our church puts an emphasis on the altars as a place to get close to God o your knees. But, at the same time, our church is not open during the day. If you want to go in, you have to go to the service entrance, ring the bell and have the secretary buzz you in. I wish it was open all of the time.

 

[eldermike]

I am teaching Daniel to my small group. I do actually know that Daniel was not in the fire. Thanks for the heads up, I posted in a hurry, that never works for me.

Mike

 

[SumTinWong]

Are your church buildings open during the day for people to come in and pray? Would going to a church to pray be seen as different from praying in another place? I guess I was wondering because most Catholic churches remain open during the day for people to come in and visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. That not being the case for Baptists, would a Baptist find himself going to church during the day to pray?

Our church isn't open during the day, but anytime you want to come on down and pray I will open doors for you This Baptist believes that Jesus Christ is in his heart, and so all he needs to do is get down on his knees and pray, wherever he may be. I don't have to visit a church to do this.

 

[SumTinWong]

While I would not label myself as "born again" because it often implies that one is not Catholic, I would not disagree with any of what you have said above. I would refine it a bit, however.

Jesus, not the Baptists came up with the concept of being born again.
[bible]John 3:3[/bible]