Friday shoot out: Places of Worship

This church, the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle holds a special place in my heart, I was married here, baptised here, and held my baby son Andrew's funeral service here. But I won't have mine here as I have transfered to Mt Albert Baptist Church.


I was fascinated by St Alban Church. In summer, I did a post. It is what a church should be, sharing with other congregation who can't afford their own church.



This is part of the entrance of the Chinese temple in Paloh, Johor in Malaysia. Many of the Chinese there are predominantly Buddhist or Ancestor worship or a combination of both. I took a lot of photos but they are loaded in another camera. I shall do a separate post.

Two waves of Indians came to New Zealand. The older group more than a hundred years ago from Gujerat and Punjab. My short story Nadine was based on these Indians. http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2008/11/nadine-chapter-one.htmlRecently there is another group. There many many Indians in Auckland, and many stay at Sandringham. This is one of their temples.

The National religion of Malaysia is Islam. This mosque in Paloh is a very modest one. In rich place like Brunei, you will be in awe of the richness of the architecture.


The previous two old photos were of Mum and Dad, I am not sure if they are both temples in West Malaysia, or if one of them was in Thailand. This is a tribute to Mum and dad. Dad had a senior Government service position as the Divisional Education Officer. One of the perks was an subsidised holiday to the region for mum and two kids. We were a family of 9 kids. Back there, we had public exams when we were 12, 15, 17, 19. You could only progress to the next level if you pass the exams. As there were so many of us, inevitably, one of us would be taking a public exam that year. Mum and Dad did not go for their holidays so that they would always be home for us. Only once, did Dad and Mum take the four youngest siblings to Singapore, Malaya and Thailand. That last year before Dad retired, Dad took Mum for a round the world tour.

It used to be Malacca, now they call it Meleka. The Europeons came, first the Portuguese in 1511-1641, then the Dutch, and finally the English. They brought their religion while they colonised. There is still a Portuguese settlement, the descendants of original Portuguese.


http://mytownshootout.blogspot.com/
November 13 - Places of Worship


This week I picked places of worship because I was thinking that so many churches & synagogues (etc.), have such interesting architecture and symbolism both indoors and out. In addition, there is often much history surrounding the older buildings used for worship as well, adding to the interest. Whether simple or ornate they are often designed to speak to the soul. But by all means get creative and go beyond just buildings and architecture if you'd like!Image attached or link
Thanks, Becky

We do not need a fixed structure to worship God. Some people at Easter choose to go up the mountain, or at the beach. But it does help to reflect and have community with other fellow worshippers in a building, be it a church, a synagogue, a temple or a mosque.

Fellow blogger thomas said...

Ann,
The white pagoda is the Kek Lok Si buddhist temple in Penang Island.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kek_Lok_Si

and a beautiful photo of the temple i found on the internet
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee3/flsam_2007/Buddhism/KekLokSi1.jpg