I chose to make my observations in the local church. Situated in the heart of our neighborhood, this 20th century church has a seating capacity of 1000 people and headed by a youthful priest called Ramero. I was seated in one of the church benches for a period of ten minutes. Several interesting things occurred during this period. Among the notable events I observed include different dressing styles, dialect, and nature of the congregation. This report discusses these observations from a communication point of view.
The report attempts to present an in-depth personal profile of the youthful priest during a sermon within the church from an insider perspective. Besides, the paper touches on the environment within the church, the people, and activities taking place from an anthropological point of view.
In the expansive hall of the local Catholic church is seated the youthful, jovial, and kind priest called Ramero, who is originally from Taiwan. As a youthful priest, he was inspiringmany, especially with his divine sermons, passionate presentations, and delightful approach in initiating helpful projects to his congregation, as I later learned.The church was filled to the last seat. The seating arrangement was very unique. Women sat on the far left row while the men were concentrated in the middle and the right rows.
At the far right corner was the choir team consisting of seven men and five women. This group was wearing purple robes. The choir master was swinging his hands togesture the team to sing one of the compositions. Just then, a group of more than seven people appeared at the entrance and they were directed to sit on the dais. I later learned that these were choir members of the neighboring church who honored the invitation from the local priest. Everyone was holding a hymn book and conversations were confined to murmurs.
As I walked in the far left row, I noticed the 5’4 feet priest don in a white robe standing on the pulpit with a beaming face. The first impression I got was that of a jovial kind hearted minister, noting the almost full capacity church and active participation from the congregation. He was wearinga natural smile in his well pressed priestly robes and has a commanding voice above other priests. I slowly moved forward and occupied the third row from the front where I could get a lucid reflection and a view of everything taking place. As it was written in the church plaque, this priest has been a minister for quite a long time. I personally got to know him three years ago when he convinced our family to join his church.
Following a short interaction, I realized that Ramero was born in Taiwan and he moved into this country 20 years ago due to family migration to search for greener pastures in Spain. Being an ardent Catholic Church member, he has been active in leading sermons every seventh day of the week which is dedicated for service to God. Back in Taiwan, religious intolerance, especially from the dominant Buddhism religion limited his space for practicing religion.
Specifically, being against the doctrines of the Catholic religion, Taiwan did not recognize Sunday as a day of worship, noting that schools and other activities proceeded during this special day. Therefore, in order to survive this turmoil, Ramero and his entire family migrated to Spain at a tender age of thirteen. Despite having been in Spain for over 20 years, it is apparent that this nice gentleman has not lost his Taiwan accent when speaking English language in this sermon.
As part of the church doctrine, priests often visit this big church and give sermons once in a while. As I observed, youths who prayed there preferred Ramero’s sermons since they were presented in the most simple and easy to understand language besides gestures. During these exchange sessions, Ramero performed the role of an interpreter. In between his role of interpretation, Ramero also performed the role of a youth preacher and a counselor among the young members of the church. Besides, he was the leader of the Bible study session, whichwas very interesting as each participant was given an opportunity to lead a session.
The majority of members of the congregation are the locals consisting of youths and adults. Reflectively, Ramero proposed to better this during the sermon by inviting more international students with religious background. Since the church has an institutional affiliation, majority of worshipers here are affiliated to our local school. In his quest to recruit more followers, he confessed to have made series of worldwide tours to countries such as Korea, China, and Taiwan. At present, PriestRamero has initiated a series of youth related programs within the church. For instance, he is associated with the annual international meeting for youths across the globe which occurs in the church. Besides, he has introduced a youth fellowship which basically involves rotating visits to the homes of the participants.
As I sat in the church, I noticed that these people possessed a lot of love and responsibility. They were organized, jovial like the youthful priest, and were actively involved in the church activities. Besides, Ramero confirmed to me that the congregation has a kitty from where the funds collected are channeled towards offering financial assistance to poor people. Interestingly, Priest Ramero is the chairman of the Kitty besides being the overall presiding coordinator for the same.
Through embracing maintenance strategy topology, it is easier for an observer user to identify the aspects of self disclosure, positivity, and social characters as the assuring factors that promoted the effectiveness of mass cultural modes used across the generational divides to manage the cross generational interaction.Communication is inspired by authenticity longing that clouds the memory of a person to actually experience the absolute real from the enclosures of the norms of the society.
Therefore, understanding the mass culture is made possible through expressions, illustrations, and even reactions as admired by the user. From my observation experiment, it is apparent that the church community has unique means and symbols of communication. The congregation consists of different gender with the same religious inclination.
As an active observer of this interesting church service, I was inspired by the sermonto develop a passion for assisting the unfortunate and being responsible. Besides, I have endeavored to develop a strong and a clear understanding of the congregation in terms of their means of communication and physical interaction. Moreover, I have learnt to appreciate diversity as a positive thing since the priest was very confident in addressing the congregation despite his unique Taiwan accent. The observation experiment was one of my best experiences in capturing human communication orientation.