M4 Cafeteria Assignment: Attend a Worship Service

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is for students to be exposed to religious beliefs, practices, and traditions other than their own through experiential learning.

Task: For this assignment, students will attend a worship service or ceremony outside of their own religion or religious tradition. This could be a weekly worship service or a ceremony such as a baptism. Be sure to attend a religion with a different overall philosophy than the religion to which you belong. You must attend a worship service or ceremony for a religion you are unfamiliar with and have never participated in before. In the past, students have attended St. Francis in Orem and the Utah Islamic Center in Sandy.

Submit: Submit a reflection of the experience in paragraph form with the following headings shown in bold (do not include the questions).

• Date and Time: Include the date of time of the service you attended.
• Religion and Location: Include the name of the religion and building address.
• Type of Worship Service or Ceremony: For example, a weekly worship service or a ceremony like a baptism.
• What I Expected: What you expected before the service/ceremony and how you felt before attending. Did you do any research to see what was appropriate to wear or rules for interaction? If so, what did you find?
• Observations: Describe, in detail, what you observed. What was familiar and unfamiliar to you? Be specific!
• Participation and Comfort Level: Describe ways in which you participated or things that you observed but did not participate in. Describe what you were at ease with and/or what was out of your comfort zone and reflect on reasons for your ease / discomfort. Be specific!
• Compare to Your Religious Background: What is your religious background? Identify similarities and differences between what you observed and your own experiences in your religion and religious culture. For example: teachings, rituals, social interaction, appropriate clothing and behavior, physical space, religious symbols in the environment, etc. Be specific!
• Learned: Describe what you learned about the particular group of people and any new insights gained. How was the service or ceremony a reflection of the broader culture?
• Overall Experience: Include any additional thoughts or comments about your experience.

*Your reflection should be at least 1 page and no more than 2 pages, single-spaced.

Grading: See rubric.