A
service of worship
is a
religious
meeting where people of a
church
come together, in order to worship
God
. They often meet in a
church building
made for the purpose, but may do it in some other building or outdoors. The meeting may also be called a
church service
or
prayer service
or just
service
. It is the usual term used in the
Christian
religion for such a meeting. The term is also used sometimes in
Judaism
, although
prayer service
or just
service
are more common.
In the Christian churches services are normally held on Sundays, although there may be services on other days as well, especially in large churches or
cathedral
s.
In the
Protestant
church services are usually led by a
pastor
, although sometimes they may be led by laymen (people who are not priests). In
Catholic
churches and some others, they are called "
Mass
".
Services often include
Holy Communion
or
Eucharist
.
Matins
is a morning service which does not include communion. An evening service is called
Evensong
.
Church services are also held for
weddings
,
funerals
, or other special occasions.
Services may include
prayers
,
singing
,
sermons
(preaching) and readings from the
Bible
.
In
Judaism
, each prayer service is built around two main elements:
Shema
and
Amida
. Three prayers are required for each day.
The three daily prayers in Judaism are
Shaharit
(Shacharit) for morning prayer,
Minha
(Mincha) for afternoon prayer and
Arvit or Maariv
for evening prayer. The basics of each prayer consist of the
Shema
(although the afternoon prayer does not require Shema), and the
Amida
(standing prayer) which is the definitive prayer of each service. Fundamentally, when a Jew says "prayer", he or she means Amida. Everything else (which is largely
Psalms
) is just detail.
- The
Shema
.
The
Shema
includes three
paragraphs
from the
Torah
:
Deuteronomy 6:4?9
,
Deuteronomy 11:13?21
, and
Numbers 15:37?41
. These three paragraphs include the most basic ideas about Judaism, God, and God's
relationship
with the Jewish people.
- The text of the
Shema
says it should be said "when you go to bed" and "when you wake up".
[1]
Because of this,
Shema
is said at the morning and evening prayer services, but not the afternoon service.
- The
Amidah
.
The
Amidah
("standing prayer") is a group of
blessings
about everything in the relationship between God and Jews. After the
Temple in Jerusalem
was destroyed, prayer became a substitute for
sacrifices
.
[2]
Because of this,
Amidah
is said at the same time of day as sacrifices:
- Morning and afternoon every day, at the time of the daily
burnt-offering
[3]
- Evening every day, at the time when remaining pieces of the day's sacrifices were burned
[4]
- Musaf.
Late morning on
Shabbat
,
[5]
Rosh Chodesh
(day of new Jewish month)
[6]
and major
Jewish holidays
,
[7]
because additional sacrifices were offered then
- Ne'ilah.
Late afternoon at the end of
Yom Kippur
[8]
Jewish prayer services are held whenever the
Amidah
prayer is said. In the morning and evening, they also include
Shema.