Religious Community

Note: no resources have yet been uploaded for the religious community

Specification for religious community:

Religious texts and sources of authority:

The principal text(s) of the religion, including its main writings and teachings; role and authority in the religion; significance for the religious community and beliefs about it/them; and use in worship, devotion/meditation and instruction/education. Other sources of authority in the religion.  

The Bible and its authority for Christians; differences among Christians in their attitudes to its authority and interpretation; and its use in worship, devotion/meditation and instruction/education within any one Christian denomination. The nature and form of authority within any one Christian denomination; the role of individual conscience in matters of belief and practice; and differences among Christians in their attitudes to the roles of the ordained ministry, the laity and religious leadership in local communities.

Founders and leaders:

The stories of the lives of the founder(s) of the religion or tradition; their teachings; their status and significance according to the religious tradition; the impact (past and present) of their teaching and example on the lives and behaviour of believers/devotees; and the extent to which they are role models. The roles and impact of leading historical or contemporary figures within the religious tradition.

The life of Jesus Christ, with particular reference to: his baptism, temptations, death and resurrection; two examples of his ministry of healing; his teaching about discipleship; and his significance for Christians today. The teaching, and contribution to Christianity, of one other significant Christian, either historical or contemporary.

Rules for living:

Codes of law within the religion or tradition, including origins, significance and impact upon the behaviour and practice of believers/devotees; ethical teaching, its main principles and its effects upon actual behaviour in daily life; and the place and status of human reason and conscience.  

The Ten Commandments  and Jesus’ interpretation of them in the Sermon on the Mount; Jesus’ teaching about love, with particular reference to the Christian principle of love, its importance, as shown in the two commandments of Jesus, and its interpretation and application in the daily lives of Christians; and other principles of Christian living, as set out in the Sermon on the Mount.

Worship and celebration:

The forms and styles of public worship and its importance in the lives of believers/devotees; regular services and celebrations, their forms and traditions; private worship and devotional activities, and their significance in the lives of individuals; and religious festivals, celebrations and worship within the home and family, and their importance in the lives of believers/devotees.  

The form and style of public worship of any two Christian denominations, with particular reference to the celebration of the Eucharist/Communion/Mass/Lord’s Supper; (private) prayer and/or devotional activities, and their significance for individual Christians; rites of passage and their meaning and importance for Christians, with particular reference to baptism, marriage and funerals; and the celebration and significance for Christians of the festivals of Christmas and Easter.

Places of worship and pilgrimage:

Local buildings and other venues for public worship and devotion, including their external and internal appearance, design, significant features, purpose(s), use(s) and importance for

believers/devotees and religious communities; buildings and other venues of regional, national or international significance for believers/devotees, including their external and internal appearance, design, significant features, purpose(s), use(s) and reasons for their status; and places of pilgrimage, including the reasons for their significance and the traditions and observances of pilgrims at them.

The external and internal appearance, design, significant features, purpose(s), use(s) and importance for Christians and Christian communities of the local places of worship of any two Christian denominations; different forms of church design and their significance for Christians; the reasons for their historical and contemporary importance, and any use(s) made of them by Christians today (for example, as places of pilgrimage); of Bethlehem, Jerusalem and any one other place of significance to Christians (these may be places of historical and/or contemporary importance to Christians in general, or to particular denominations).