RELIGIOUS SERVICE REFLECTION

My experience at the Universal Unitarian Church in West Hartford was very different than my experience at the St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in West Hartford.  At the unitarian church, the main focus was on music and love. This was expressed through stories, bands/live music and sermons. The catholic church was more focused on the readings and teachings of their specific religion.  My experience there was much more guided than at the unitarian church, as the information that was expressed through song and teachings was more set and stone and didn’t offer a lot of interpretation. The unitarian church told stories and sang songs that summed up overall ideas, like acceptance of others and loving others despite their differences.  I really liked this because it gave me the chance to appreciate the information in my own way. Another important difference I noted between my two experiences was the size of the churches, as well as the sizes of the “audiences”. The St. Thomas the Apostle church is significantly bigger than the Universal Unitarian Church, and there were a lot less people at the unitarian service than there were at the catholic service.  This also could have had to do with the time of day the services took place (the catholic service was at night and the unitarian service was in the morning).  
I chose to read the Vox article on secularism and the analysis of the public’s position in terms of religion.  The essential question was that if people (generally 18 or older) didn’t have a clear religion involved in there life, then what was filling that “void”, and what is giving them that sense of community that is found in religious services.  Most people responded to this question by saying that they find their greatest sense of community through family and friends. I agree with this, as I do not belong to any religious group and find the most of my sense of community and connections through my family and friends.  The statistics also show that people find the least sense of purpose from work and politics. This surprised me because many people choose careers that they find fulfilling and take pride in them. At the same time, however, I can understand why people find more purpose through connections with family and friends and through hobbies.