Where did People Worship?
History: KS3, topic 8.1.3
Where Did People Worship?
The Church built different types of buildings for different purposes. Catholics needed the involvement of a priest to communicate with God, so all worship happened in a church.
Parish Church
- The parish church was the local church for each settlement.
- In a village there would usually be just one church with one priest (tiny villages sometimes had to share priests!) but in towns and cities there were many.
Parishes
- A Parish was the area, and the people who lived there, that one priest was responsible for.
Decoration of parish church
- They were colourful and decorated lavishly.
- This was where people would come on a Sunday to hear service and to celebrate mass, and to pray throughout the week.
Chapel
- A chapel is a small place of worship.
- It can be attached to a church or be separate but without a priest, called a chapel of ease, for example, inside a castle or by a dangerous road.
Chapels in churches
- Chapels in churches often were used to house the tombs of important people, and as a place to dedicate prayers for that person's swift entry into heaven.
Chapels outside churches
- Outside of churches, chapels could be used as a family's private church where they could invite their favourite preacher, or as a place of contemplation or reflection.
Cathedrals
- Cathedrals are enormous churches built in important cities- in fact, a place had to have a cathedral in order to become a city!
- The Cathedral is a base of a bishop or archbishop, and is beautifully decorated to reflect that importance.
Function of a cathedral
- The function of a Cathedral was mostly the same as a regular parish church.
- Some cathedrals would be used to host important events. For example, Westminster Abbey is a special royal cathedral that holds the monarch's coronation ceremony.
Shrines
- A shrine could be in a church or a more unofficial place of worship, often built on the site of a particular holy event and connected to a particular saint.
- People would go on pilgrimages to shrines, both in England and across Europe, to pray to the saint for help and advice.
Examples of shrines
- For example, the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham was built after a Saxon noblewoman had a vision of the Angel Gabriel telling the Virgin Mary she would become pregnant with Jesus.
- It was used for centuries by women praying for pregnancy or the health of their children.
Test yourself on Where did People Worship?
What is the name for an area, and the people who lived there, that one priest was responsible for?
Where did people worship?