d in my robe. All of my family, friends and a few of the adults at church that I was close to came in the back to help me and lead me through my baptism. This meant the world to me. I had my best friend’s dad dedicate me before I was baptized. The feelings I felt when I rushed under the water were indescribable. It was a complete cleansing and feeling of happiness after I was lifted out from the pool. A feeling of community is a part of worship which can only be shown and not felt through televised worship. This feeling of community envelops around me everytime I’m singing during worship. To feel the whole congregation lifted up in song and singing with all of their might to the Lord presents a feeling like no other. You can almost feel the Lord rejoicing with you. It definitely is something you can’t get from television. It is something that has to be felt in the presence of people and a sense of community. In a study that was done by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, one participant was quoted as saying, “[Singing with other people] is kind of a group expression an[sic] it’s kind of like bringing everybody together and foeed[sic] on one thing.” Another participant was quoted as saying, “I feel God’s presence in the communion with the congregation, the caring and the friendly open feeling of the congregation to me speaks to God’s presence, because you can be in another gathering for other reasons and the feeling of the group is totally different, so I think that you can feel God’s presence in the mood, in the feeling of the people worshipping with you.” The study also showed that participants felt, “ T.V. worship lacks an essential physical presence and touchability.”I feel my physical presence in church is respectful because the Lord has done so much for me, I should be able to get to church for him. Another participant in the Scientific Stud...
