This is where you register for a student-initiated trip to a religious service outside your own faith. Before you begin, please read the following, important notations.

2. Muncie is not the only city in which you may visit the worship service of another religion. If you do select Muncie, please know

3. Our Muncie hosts (Buddhists, Jewish, Muslim) frequently complete extensive preparations for our visits, some even include meals - and since their hospitality is a part of what it means for them to be faithful servants in their religious tradition you must

4. If you attend a worship service outside Muncie, you do not need to register on this site. However, you must get a liability form from your instructor, complete it, and return it to your instructor before you make your visit.

5. You must arrange your own transportation for your visit.

Our relationship with the people in these different faith traditions is one of mutual respect and appreciation. We trust you also will continue to nurture this kind of a relationship.

Now, registration is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Review Your Options

From Muncie and the surrounding areas, to Indianapolis, to your own hometown, there literally are thousands of places where religious services are conducted and where you may visit and observe.

What follows is a basic orientation to several major religious traditions. To be better informed for your selection and for your visit, please review each option carefully.

Buddhism began in India, a far different world than that which gave rise to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As a young man, the Hindu prince Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 bce) became very distressed over the inevitable suffering of human life—aging, sickness, and death among other things. Although born to a noble life, he renounced privilege and set out in search of a resolution to the spiritual unrest that plagued him. According to Buddhist tradition, he found what he sought during a time of meditation, discovering the way to release from the burden of suffering. He then went about teaching what he had learned to other people and founded an organization based on his teachings. His followers called him "the Buddha" which means "the awakened," or "the enlightened one."

Buddhism has a number of different sacred writings. The Pali Canon records what Buddhists take to be the teachings of the Buddha himself after his Enlightenment. Its importance is agreed upon by the great majority of Buddhists. Beyond that, various Buddhist subgroups accept other scriptures as valid.

A basic statement of Buddhist belief, attributed to the Buddha himself, is the Four Noble Truths (All of life is marked by suffering. We can know the causes of our suffering. We can end our suffering. The Noble Eightfold Path is a method for ending one's suffering.).

Another summary of what is of central importance in Buddhism is the Three Treasures also, referred to as the Three Refuges, or the Three Jewels (I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha.). Although there is no affirmation of faith that is required to become a Buddhist nor any set formula that makes a person a Buddhist, the Refuges help to define what being a Buddhist means. Usually, when someone becomes a Buddhist by choice, they formally take the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts (Do not kill. Do not steal. Refrain from wrongful sexual behavior. Do not lie. Avoid the use of intoxicants.) in the setting of a Buddhist community or Sangha.

For Buddhists, "faith" is not faith in an unseen deity nor in something that cannot be known. It is not assent to propositions that cannot be demonstrated. It is an expression of what practitioners can know and verify through the effects of the practice in their own lives.

Like Hindus, Buddhists often have a small altar, or shrine,in their homes. A Buddha statue represents the historical Buddha and helps devotees focus on the Buddha nature within themselves, as well. Flowers symbolize enlightenment and a candle or altar light symbolizes the light of wisdom. Incense is often offered in gratitude for the Three Refuges and other blessings. An offering of water represents cleansing and a food offering represents giving and the willingness to share what one has with other beings.

Meditation is central to Buddhist practice and is a main focus of practice for most Buddhists in the United States. There are three aspects to meditation. The first is developing one-pointed concentration, the ability to truly do one thing at a time. To do this, people often practice by concentrating on their breathing. The second is the development of insight into the true nature of reality. This allows them to experience reality as it is, without getting caught up in conceptualizations of it. The third is the extension of these attitudes into daily living as mindfulness in everyday life.

Buddhists who live where they can go to a temple participate in activities that center around the natural rhythms of the lunar calendar. The holy days occur at the new moon, the full moon, and eight days after each, making them about a week apart. Attendance at the temple is not required, and some Buddhists participate much more than others. There is a religious new year festival in the spring, and the Buddha's birthday is widely celebrated. Temples also offer classes, as well as special rituals for the passages of life, and serve as social centers.

Like Hindu's and other non-Christians in the United States, Buddhists may accommodate to the major Christian religious holidays that are part of the culture. For example, Shasta Abby in California (Zen Buddhist) celebrates December 24 as the Festival of the Eve of the Buddha's Enlightenment and December 25 as the Festival of the Buddha's Enlightenment.

One of the ways Buddhism has changed as it has come West has been that the greater gender equality in the West has forced the issue within the Buddhist community. American women have been and continue to be interested in Buddhism, and there is evidence that their increased participation, especially in leadership positions, is contributing distinctive accents to the practice of American Buddhism, while helping to ameliorate things that have been difficult for female practitioners of the Dharma in the West.

Traditionally speaking, Christian worship revolves around a three-year lectionary (Year A, Year B, and Year C). The lectionary is a series of Scripture readings selected from the Bible for each Sunday of each of the three years (and for other special days of the Christian calendar). Lectionary readings are chosen specifically to be read aloud in public worship and to relate to one of the six different seasons of the Christian year.

Each of the three years of the lectionary begins with the Advent (which means, "coming") season. During Advent, Christians project themselves backward in thought to anticipate and to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world as a newly born babe. In addition, each year during Advent, the church begins reading one of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, or Luke) which details the life of Jesus in a somewhat similar fashion. Readings from the Gospel of John are read throughout the three-year lectionary cycle. In addition, each year includes a variety of other readings from the Bible in order to cover its basic content every three years.

Christmas Day and the following eleven days constitute the second season of the Christian year, the Christmas season (also known as the twelve days of Christmas). During the Christmas season, Christians celebrate the belief that God was in the person of Jesus, that the birth of Jesus was the birth of a divine-human being, even a Savior. They celebrate the incarnation (God being flesh).

Epiphany, the third season of the Christian year, literally means "appearance." During Epiphany Christians celebrate the belief that Jesus—either at his baptism (Eastern Church) or through the visit of the Gentile magi (Western church)—was revealed to the larger world as Savior.

Lent (which refers to the spring season) begins on Ash Wednesday and is the fourth season of the Christian year. Lent is a time of penance for all Christians and—more recently—has become a time of preparation for the baptism of new converts on Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday always is seven full weeks before Easter and is the day when Christians place the burned ashes of palm branches on their foreheads as an outward sign of their empathy with Jesus, in particular with his suffering and his death. They use the palm branches from their previous year's celebration of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, which they celebrated on Palm Sunday a year earlier. Palm Sunday is so named because the biblical record tells us the people who followed Jesus into Jerusalem the week before he died carried and placed in his path palm branches to welcome him. Within the Lenten season, then, Palm Sunday is the last Sunday of Lent. It also is the last Sunday before Easter and the beginning of Holy Week.

Holy Week is the most solemn time of the Christian year. Still within the Lenten season, Holy Week heightens the believer's attention upon Jesus' suffering and his death, which is viewed as substitutionary for their own sins. Maundy Thursday is an important part of Holy Week. The term "maundy" actually comes from an old Latin hymn and means, "A new commandment I give you…." (John 13:34). Maundy Thursday, then, marks the "Last Supper" as the context in which Jesus both shared wine and bread with his disciples as symbols of a new covenant he was making with them; it also marks the context in which Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment ("…to love one another the way I have loved you.") as well as the context in which he washed their feet (a task usually reserved for slaves). Hence, many congregations today serve Holy Communion (bread and wine) and practice feet washing on Maundy Thursday.

Easter Sunday begins the fifth season of the Christian year, which is Easter. The Easter season focuses attention upon, and celebrates, the belief in Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Christians believe God raised Jesus from the dead and, in raising Jesus from the dead, defeated their final enemy (death) and bestowed upon all who believe in him (Jesus) eternal life. Additionally, In one sense, every Sunday in the Christian tradition is viewed as Easter Sunday.

Pentecost (meaning fifty) is one of the three pilgrim feasts for Jews, celebrated fifty days after Passover. Originally, Christians celebrated Pentecost as both the day Jesus ascended into heaven and the day the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus' disciples. It quickly became the time to celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples (also seen as the "birthday" of the church) and a popular time to baptize new converts. Since newly baptized Christians often wear white robes, Pentecost Sunday has been given the name "Whitsunday" by some.

Through a variety of specific acts of worship, at special times and places, participants in this tradition seek to make their whole life a continuous act of worship. Much of the variety of Hindu worship is the result of the concept of istadeva, or the deity of one's choice. Within a certain framework, Hindus have the freedom to choose concepts and representations of God with which they can most easily identify, and with whom they can enter a relationship. An important feature of Hindu worship is the profuse use of various symbols, images and statues, or what we refer to as murtis. In The Hindu Vision (pp. 4-5) Professor Diana Eck points to an important reason for the [westerner's] historical distrust of images as idolatry:

Hindus are not constrained by any obligation to worship in temples. Many seldom visit temples. In fact, the individual nature of worship largely prevails. The term puja, which literally means worship, is used to describe various forms of worship in the home or in the temple. A puja is an act of reverence by a devotee towards a chosen deity, indicated by the presence of the murti.

Strictly speaking, a puja is a formal mode of worship with prescribed procedures venerating the deity as an honored guest. Among the important procedures of a puja are: the invocation of the deity, the invitation to a seat, the washing of the feet, and acts of adoration through offering flowers, burning incense, waving lights and the consecration of food. These acts are accompanied by the recitation of appropriate scriptural texts and forms of meditation. The puja ritual concludes with the distribution of prasada, that is, food that has been ritually offered to the deity. The acceptance of prasada is an acknowledgement of the deity as the source of all that one enjoys. The word also means grace, and is symbolic of the blessings of the deity.

Perhaps the most common ceremony in Hinduism is the daily performance of the arati, worship involving the waving of light before the image of the deity, usually performed in the home. A red dot, made from red power and paste and known as a tilak or chandlo, is placed on the foreheads of everyone present, including the images. Then the flame is passed to those present who receive the blessing, grace and power of God by holding their hands over the flame and then touching their eyes and foreheads. The arati essentially is a ceremony of loving adoration and reverence, and light is one of the central positive symbols of Hinduism. The ceremony also may be performed in a Temple.

Hindu temples vary in both size and shape. However, whether small or large, they all share a common feature. Each one is conceived primarily as the abode of the particular deity to whom it is dedicated. [This is particularly true in India. In America, there may be more than one icon or murti housed in a temple.] The central feature of any Hindu temple, therefore, is the inner sanctuary where the particular form of the deity has been ritually installed. The inner shrine is covered by a canopy, which denotes honor and eminence. Traditionally, Hindu temples were not built to accommodate congregational prayer; but temples built by Hindus who have settled outside India are designed for forms of congregational worship and also serve wider functions.

The primary purpose of visiting a temple is to have a darsana, an audience, a viewing, of the deity. This means more than the physical sight of the deity. It means to enter from the mundane into the presence, atmosphere, and the awe of the sacred. One's mind is lifted, however temporarily, into an awareness of a deeper reality and significance of life and—because of darsana—one has bestowed upon them the grace of the deity, the prasada.

Such worship experiences are preliminary, and not the ultimate aim of Hindu religious life. Hindus aim through these experiences to cultivate an unbroken awareness of God. This is the goal offered by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita: "One who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, of him I shall never lose hold and he shall never lose hold of me" (6:30).

The Babylonian Exile (587 bce), coupled with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans (70 ce), made communal worship, study, and fellowship a high priority for the displaced Jewish people. It seems clear to most scholars that synagogues came into existence during the Diaspora and became known either as beth tefillah (houses of prayer, or houses of worship) or beth midrash (houses of study), or as both. There can be no doubt that this particular community of faith centers itself, and even builds its places of worship, on the centrality of Scripture.

A Jewish Cantor (a professionally trained musician) usually leads the liturgy of music in larger congregations, a Choir Director (a lay musician, may even be a Gentile) in smaller ones. In the prayer book The Gates of Prayer (a common Siddur, or prayer book, in Reform congregations; Conservative congregations use a different titled Siddur), you will be working from back to front and from right to left as far as the pages are concerned. However, you sometimes will find an "English opening" copy in a Reform synagogue with the same content as the "Hebrew opening" edition. It will read like an English text.

The Rabbi and adult leadership usually are good about keeping the congregation posted as to where in the prayerbook the liturgy being read is found. They may even give page numbers where transliterations are found. When Hebrew is read or spoken, listen for words you recognize from your readings or from class. Most likely you will hear all of the following phrases spoken or sung several times during the service, if you listen carefully.

Sometimes elements of the liturgy are printed or spoken in Hebrew with an English translation following it in print. If you are alert to his practice, you may be able to follow along in English while the Hebrew is being spoken. It is not uncommon for the congregation to speak a Scripture or prayer in Hebrew and then repeat it in English.

There are several standard features you will always see in a synagogue: The Aron or Torah Ark, a curtained cabinet at the center of the bima (the platform from which Scripture is read), the Ner Tamid (the eternal light above the Torah), a Menorah (a seven or eight branch candelabrum), the Reading Desk (in Reformed synagogues it faces the congregation, not the Ark, as in an Orthodox setting), a Star of David, the Moses Tablets, and the Yahrzeit (lights/candles/board, sometimes in the hallway outside the sanctuary which commemorates the anniversary of the death of a close relative, or a national or religious figure).

Participate as much as you can or as much as you feel comfortable doing. Even humming along with the Cantor or Choir Director is appropriate and is a form of participation. Hold all questions until after the service. Then you may talk with other students, congregation members, or the Rabbi. Do not carry on private conversations during worship, even if you are trying to get help; you do not want to distract others from their worship. Do not take notes during the service. This is not an academic setting. The congregation has gathered to worship God. They invite you to participate in your own way as much as possible. However, do not feel forced to participate at a level that is not comfortable for you.

It is appropriate to greet others with "Shabbat Shalom" before or following the service. You are required to join the fellowship time afterwards, often called Oneg or Delight. It is a common practice for the community to offer a prayer of blessing (sung or spoken) before eating. Feel free to visit and converse with the members. Tell them why you are there, and ask questions about what you observed. They love to help you understand who they are and how they worship.

The Adhan (the announcement, or the call to prayer)

Muslims use the human voice to announce the times of communal prayer (salaat) just as Christians use church bells and the Jewish community uses a ram's horn. The unique practice of prayer (salaat) five times a day is required for all devout Muslims by the Qur' an (Qur' an means recitation and is the Muslim's holy book).

The one who gives the Adhan (announcement, or call) is called the Muezzin (or, crier). The Adhan is chanted from the top of a mosque as one faces Mecca (the birthplace of Muhammad and the place where Muslims go when they make their pilgrimage, or Hajj). It often is delivered by a trained professional but may be delivered by any mature, ritually pure, male Muslim. The Adhan was instituted by Muhammad himself as one way to distinguish the Muslims from the Christians and the Jews.

What follows is a transliteration and the English translation of what one hears given by Muezzin.

Salaat Al-Jumah Description

Each Muslim arrives and prepares for prayer (salaat) individually by performing purification rituals, or ablutions (wudu) that ritually cleanse the body (hands, mouth, face, feet). Then they enter the Masjid (mosque, or place of prostration) barefoot, facing Mecca, as indicated by the niche in the wall (mihrab). Each person prepares for prayer in their own way with Scripture, recitations and gestures. As they gather, and during prayer, all the men line up in a row (showing the unity and oneness of the Muslim community) and follow the leadership of the Imam (literally means "he who stands before").

The Imam begins with prayer to Allah (the name for God among Muslims). The sermon (khutba, or oration) is given in two parts; the first part usually is more standardized than the second part and includes praises to Allah as well as Scripture quotations. Between parts, the messenger sits quietly with the congregation for private prayers.

The prayers themselves consist of two rakas (a complete cycle of words and gestures). Each prostration begins with a declaration, "God is most great," and is followed by bows, prostrations, and the recitation of fixed prayers that include, among other verses, the opening verse of the Qur'an. At the end of prayer, the shahadah (the first pillar of Islam, a profession of faith) is again recited, the greeting of peace is given twice, and angels on either shoulder are acknowledged. Announcements in English are often given before dismissal. Some participants may continue in prayer when the service is closed.

3. Register For Your Visit

Please review the options linked with each visitation description and select the form button to register for your visit.