Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mr. Robertson.

And I'm going to be your RE teacher today.

It's so wonderful to see you.

I hope you're ready to learn.

We are going to be learning a fabulous lesson today.

We're thinking about places of worship and what makes them sacred places.

In today's lesson, we're going to be looking at churches.

And our lesson today is called How Churches Differ.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe how Christian churches might look similar and different.

We're gonna have a fantastic time learning, and I can't wait to get started.

In this lesson, we have three keywords.

I'm going to say the word first, and I'd like you to say it back to me.

Are we ready? Brilliant.

Our first word is church.

Amazing.

Our second word is worship.

Brilliant.

And our final word is cross.

Excellent.

Hmm, but what do these words mean? Well, a church is a place of worship for Christians.

Worship means showing respect, love, or devotion to something or someone.

And the cross is a symbol that reminds Christians about Jesus.

As we go through the lesson, you're going to hear those words quite a lot.

So we are going to be asking two questions today.

Our first question is this.

How do churches look on the outside? Let's make a start.

Jun and Aisha are talking about Religious Education.

Jun says, "Religious Education often seems to be about people and the things they do.

I wonder why?" Aisha says, "We can understand different worldviews by finding out how people behave.

People show what's important to them by the things they do and the ways they celebrate." We're going to be meeting some people in this lesson today, some Christian people.

And that's gonna be really helpful because it will help us learn a little bit about what makes a church sacred for different Christians.

Let's meet our first person.

This is David.

Hello, David.

And David is a nurse.

He's also a Christian.

He has a Christian worldview.

Wow, what can you see in this photograph? I wonder if you've seen a building that looks like this before.

Maybe there's a building that looks a little bit like this near you.

Well, this is the church where David goes to worship with his family.

Are there any clues that it is a church? Look really carefully at the photograph.

Is there anything there that makes you think, yes, that is a church.

I know that's a church because.

You might want to pause the video and whisper to someone next to you.

See what they think as well.

Well, some of the things that make it a church are things that we can see on the outside.

So David's church has a tower.

And in that tower, there is a bell.

And the bell rings so people know that it's time to go to church.

Have you ever seen a church with a tower? Have you ever heard a bell ringing in a church? If you looked really carefully, you might have seen a cross.

Can you see the cross now? That's a really important symbol for Christians.

We can also see some really big windows.

Have you ever seen a church with really big windows? Sometimes these windows aren't just made of ordinary glass, but they have special pictures in them, really bright and beautiful.

And they're called stained glass windows.

And the pictures are often telling stories from the Bible.

So the tower, the cross, and the stained glass windows are all clues that it is a church.

David's church has all of those things.

Do you have a church near you that has any of those things? Hmm.

David's church is very old.

It was built 150 years ago.

And it was built as a church by Christians to worship God, because many Christians go to church to worship God because they think God is really important and powerful.

Let's just see what we can remember.

What can you see on the outside of David's church? A, a cross, b, a Bible, c, an altar.

Hmm.

Pause the video and whisper to the person next to you.

Did you get it? Yes, it's a, a cross.

Do you remember, high up on the roof, there was a cross on David's church.

Brilliant if you got that right.

Now let's meet somebody else.

This is Sophia.

Hello, Sophia.

She also has a Christian worldview.

And she visits her church to worship every Sunday as well.

We can see a picture of Sophia's church there.

Thanks, Sophia, for showing us your church.

Now we've got two photographs here.

We have David's church on the left and we have Sophia's church on the right.

Now, how does Sophia's church look different to David's church? Are there some things which David's church has which Sophia's church doesn't have? I wonder how many differences you can see between them.

You might want to pause the video now and talk to the person next to you and see what differences you can spot.

Oh, brilliant spotting, everybody.

Maybe you noticed that Sophia's church does not have a cross on the outside.

It doesn't, does it? It doesn't have a tower with a bell.

It's got some really big chimneys, but there's no tower.

It doesn't have any stained glass windows.

It has some really beautiful windows, doesn't it? But they're just ordinary glass, aren't they? They're not stained glass.

Actually, Sophia's church looks like a really big house.

It doesn't really like a church at all, does it? I wonder why that is.

Well, Sophia's church was not built as a church.

It was changed into a church later by Christians who wanted a place to worship God.

Well, that explains it, doesn't it? Because Davis Church was built to be a church, but Sophia's church was a really big, beautiful house and then later it became a church.

Let's check our understanding.

I've got a true or false question for you.

All churches look the same from the outside.

Is that true or false? Think about Sophia and David's church.

Did they look the same? Pause the video and whisper to the person next to you.

Brilliant, it's false, isn't it? Because there are different types of churches.

David's church had a cross, didn't it? But Sophia's did not have any features like that.

But they're both churches.

I wonder if you have any churches near you.

I wonder if they look like David's or Sophia's.

Are there any churches near you that don't look like churches on the outside? It'd be so interesting to find out what it looks like where you live.

Okay, I've got a task for you now.

Alex has been doing some thinking about churches.

And Alex says, "I think all churches are the same." I wonder if he's correct.

Can we use David and Sophia's churches to help him? You might want to start with a sentence like this.

Alex is incorrect because.

Can you explain why Alex hasn't quite got it right? What can you say about what David's church looks like and how Sophia's church looks different? Can you remember some differences between them? Pause the video and have a think.

I look forward to hearing what you come up with.

Well, did you manage to think of some differences to show that all churches are not the same? You might have said David and Sophia's churches look different.

David's church was built as a church, and it has a cross, a tower, and a stained glass window.

Sophia's church was not built as a church and does not have a cross, a tower, or a stained glass window.

But they're both churches even though they look quite different.

Well done if you thought of some differences like this.

In the second part of the lesson, we're going to be asking this question.

What might we find inside a church? Let's go and look, shall we? Ooh, look at this photograph.

This photograph is of the inside of a church.

Do you think it is David or Sophia's church? I wonder which one you think it is and why.

You might want to pause the video here and talk to the person next to you.

Whose church is it and why do you think that? What did you come up with? Well, it's the inside of David's church.

Did you think that as well? I wonder why you thought that.

Maybe you thought that the shape of the windows might mean that it's David's church.

Let's see what else we can find inside David's church.

What can you see here? Have you ever seen anything like this before? Is there anything you recognize in that picture? Is there a symbol you might have seen somewhere else? I wonder what this is used for.

What might happen here? Well, this is a special table called an altar.

David says, "Can you see the cross on it? We have a service called communion here, where we remember Jesus." So inside David's church, they have a really important table called an altar.

And we know it's important 'cause it's got a cross on it.

That's where Christians have a special service called communion.

What can you see here? Is there anything you recognize again? And I wonder what might happen here.

Well, David says, "Can you see the cross again?" Yes, I can.

It's right in the middle on that white piece of fabric, isn't it? He says, "This is where people stand to read the Bible out loud.

In church, we listen to the Bible and think about what it means to us now." Well, thank you, David.

So in his church, people read the Bible, and that's what that microphone's for, so everybody can hear what they're reading.

Let's just check our understanding.

What is read during a church service? Is it a, a newspaper, b, a Bible, c, a letter.

What did David just tell us? Pause the video and whisper to the person next to you.

Brilliant.

It's a Bible, isn't it? People stand up and read the Bible from that special place with the cross.

This is the inside of Sophia's church.

What do you notice here? Can you spot the cross? Does it look similar or different to David's church? Well, I wonder if you can spot the cross on the right.

It's another really important symbol for Christians, isn't it? Sophia's church also has a special table.

I wonder how it's similar or different to David's church.

We've got a photograph of both of them here.

What can you spot that's similar and what can you spot that's different about them? We can see that they both have a beautiful white cloth on them, can't we? Sophia says, "In my church, the table is smaller.

We use it for communion.

Can you see the cup and wine that we share to remember Jesus when we worship?" Yes, I can, Sophia, that's beautiful.

And you've got some candles as well on your table, haven't you? "In my church, we do not have a place to stand to read the Bible aloud.

People can stand anywhere.

We have a screen to show what's being read that day.

We also have questions for people." Can you see the screen above the special table in Sophia's church? That helps people there to answer some questions and give some things to think about.

Let's just check our understanding again.

In Sophia's church, people do not read the Bible aloud.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and whisper to the person next to you.

It's false, isn't it? Can we think why it's false? Well, Sophia said people do read the Bible aloud in her church.

People can stand anywhere to read it.

And they have a special screen, didn't they, with questions about the Bible.

David talks about his church.

He says, "I love my church.

I enjoy walking to it and hearing the bell ringing out.

I like to see the cross as it reminds me of Jesus.

But mostly, I like to meet other Christians there who help me and support me." So the church is not just a building, is it? It's the other people that go as well.

Those Christians are the people that help David in his life and support him.

Sophia talks about her church.

She says, "I love my church.

Although it looks quite different from the outside, I know that when I go inside I can worship God.

There are lots of different types of churches, but we all worship one God." So Sophia's saying although churches look different, Christians go there to worship God.

What two reasons did David and Sophia give for why their churches are important to them? A, because they look different, they're not the same, b, they're a place to connect with God, c, they are a place to worship God.

Which two of those answers are right? You might want to whisper to the person next to you now.

Excellent, b, it's a place to connect with God, and c, a place to worship God.

Well done if you've got that right.

So we have a final task for you now.

Here we have two photographs.

On the left is David's church and on the right is Sophia's Church.

I'd like you to think of one thing that is similar and one thing that is different about the insides of David and Sophia's church.

Think about the different things you can find in their churches.

What's similar and what is different? Really can't wait to see what you come up with.

Well, what did you come up with? You might have said that David and Sophia both have a table where people remember Jesus in communion.

You might have said that David and Sophia both worship God in their church.

You might have said that David and Sophia have a cross in their church.

What's different? Well, Sophia has a small table and a screen in her church, and people can stand to read the Bible anywhere.

David's is an old church, isn't it, so it has lots of traditional things in it.

And Sophia's church is a new church, so it looks a bit more modern.

Well done if you came up with some similarities and differences.

That's incredible.

Let's summarize our learning today.

We've been learning all about different churches.

We've learned there are many different types of churches where Christians come together to worship God.

We've learned that many churches have a cross to help Christians remember Jesus.

We've learned some churches are built as churches and others may have been a different building first.

I hope you've enjoyed learning with me today and finding out about Sophia and David's Church.

You might want to go and find out a little bit about churches near you.

I look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Goodbye.