Cultural Activity

Cultural Activity

By Tia Thomas

On Sunday April 8th I went to a Pentecostal Church service at High Praise Ministries.  The church is located on the north side of Minneapolis, MN and I noticed the building was previously a warehouse and not a traditional church at all. The service lasted for about 3 hours and it was jam packed with spirited fine arts performances that made the experience ultimately pleasant.

When I walked in the door I was offered a hand shake or hug with a big smile and welcomed in with such warmth, I felt comfortable. Then they had ushers to find me a seat. They were nice yet stern and evrything was intentionally ordered. I noticed the church was predominately African-American and had a sprinkle of other nationalities. When I walked in they were finishing up prayer which they called morning glory, what a rush. Then they transitioned right in to praise and worship which lasted about fifteen minutes. The songs were easy to catch on to and they were very uplifting and encouraging. However the acoustics in the warehouse were echoing so the music was a little loud and would tend to drown out the five people singing.

People were definitely dressed to impress. It was a array of colorful dresses and suites. Little girls had on big flowing dresses and big lace socks. The little boys were dressed like little men they were in suits or slacks with a vest and tie.  When I look back on Easter Sunday in the church I grew up in a lot of people would go out and spend lots of money for that particular Sunday. They may not have seen a church service the entire year but they would make a point to go all out that one day. I think a lot of people loss site of the purpose of Easter and focus on the material things. In the early church they didn't put so much emphises on clothes. Their main purpose was to find more people to follow Christ.

Next was announcements which included a greeting to all first-time visitors which was nice. They had a greeting song and...