Taking notes in church

[Guest inoubliable]

I think it's common to take notes in Protestant denominations. Sermons are the focus of the service and can be quite long, 30-60 minutes during which you are sitting the whole time. Taking notes can help you stay awake and focused, help you remember things to discuss or contemplate or further reaserch later, many people cannot learn or remember auditorily, ect. I think it's less common in liturgical churches because there is a lot more activity (standing, kneeling, reciting, crossing) and communion tends to be the focus, with only a short sermon. But I still probably wouldn't blink to see it.

 

I think this is exactly why I had no idea that taking notes during a service was something some people do. Thank you.

[MooCow]

I grew up Baptist, and it was very common that people would take notes -- perhaps highlighting the verses used during the sermon (especially in cases when a pastor preaches on a topic, using verses from many different sections of Scripture), or noting the points made during the sermon. Baptist services are not as interactive as a Catholic mass; once the sermon begins (what would be the homily), the congregation just sits and listens; the sermon can last ~30 minutes, so to stay engaged & follow along, it's common to take notes much like one would during a lecture.

 

Sermons in Baptist churches are often set up as a speech format, or lecture format -- 3 key points, intro, conclusion, etc. Or, perhaps the pastor is giving information on a particular single passage; he might share interesting & pertinent bits of historical information that help one understand that passage better.

 

Many of the Baptist churches I've been in have an outline of sorts in the bulletin, where congregants can follow along & take additional notes. Or even where the key points are shown up on a screen, just as the lyrics to the praise hymns/songs are. It's a very different culture than a Catholic mass, and perfectly acceptable in those style churches to take notes, be they on paper or on smart phones or whatever.

 

 

 

:iagree: this except I did not grow Baptist, and converted as an adult

[elegantlion]

 

Wow, I'm jealous your church had coffee and donut time.

 

I never saw anyone take notes either.

 

 

Well, doughnuts are holey, don't they belong in church? ;)

[poppy]

I think it is a cultural difference. I certainly do feel that I am to remain engaged and retain parts of the worship service even though I don't take notes. I prefer a no-notes service for a variety of reasons, which is probably why I gravitated to the church that I did. It's really the only part of my week where all the adults pay attention to the same thing all at once, without divided attention or each going off into her own issues and ideas and diversions and digressions. The cell phones come out in meetings, community groups, book clubs. Including my own. So it is nice to have an old fashioned sanctuary to retreat to once a week.

[Kelly1730]

I like to write down the scripture references.

 

Also, writing things down is one way I remember. I can (usually) write my grocery list, and remember MOST items on the list even if I leave it at home. I can visualize what I wrote. Taking notes during church is similar for me.

 

Our small group also discusses the sermon, and I like to be able to reference some specifics.

 

 

 

Yes, this is what we do. I keep a notebook specifically for my church notes and refer to them at our small group when we discuss the message.

[ktgrok]

To a Catholic it seems odd because the liturgy is worship, and we do Bible study at a separate time. But if Bible study is a main part of the service, as in Protestant services, it makes more sense to take notes.

[QueenCat]

We visited a church for a few weeks, where almost everyone was taking notes.... so I tried it. I found that I missed half of what the preacher was saying. I've never seen it done in a Lutheran or Methodist church.

[NicAnn]

I go to a kingdom hall, and we don't have sermons, we have meetings and talks. During the meeting, the congregation gets a chance to ask and answer questions. I take notes if someone brings up a point I didn't think of, or a scripture I didn't read (in context with the Watchtower magazine for that week). I will also make notes of things that might need to be explained to my kindergartener later. She sits with me, but doesn't take everything in.

[Georgiana Daniels]

I like taking notes to keep track of the most important parts. But what I REALLY love is when my husband takes notes. The pastor will say something, then hubby writes down his thoughts about XYZ, then he goes off on his own mental bunny trail. Sometimes it reminds him of previous situations or how he might want to apply the Word to future situations. Then later we compare and discuss, and hubby always has these cool thoughts that I love digging into.

[Tap]

Ds18 will write notes in his Bible. Not often, but when he really feels a connection to a passage or wants to clarify something. He will also makes notes to reference different passages that a sermon tied together. The Bible he has right now is just about falling apart at the seams. I have offered to replace his Bible but he declines the offer because he has all of his notes in it. LOL

 

I think I will buy him a new one anyways and see if he wants to start transferring them over. I do worry that one day it will just desinigrate in his hands.

[MissKNG]

Our church goes through the Bible verse by verse. So I usually make notes on what is said about each verse and mark down any cross references mentioned.

 

I also will make small notes and underline stuff in my Bible.

[Marylou]

To a Catholic it seems odd because the liturgy is worship, and we do Bible study at a separate time. But if Bible study is a main part of the service, as in Protestant services, it makes more sense to take notes.

 

And then to others, all of life is worship, and that would mean we can't take notes anywhere!

 

I'd be in big trouble with this memory of mine :laugh:

[KungFuPanda]

Having been raised Protestant and converting to Catholicism as an adult, here is my take. You don't NEED to take notes during mass. It's generally exactly one hour. This time constraint was one of the bigest surprises to me when I first attended mass. When you go to a church that has Sunday school, Sunday morning church after that, Sunday evening worship, and even a Wednesday night service, you might want to take notes to keep track of the information. Also, remember that the preacher is going to talk until he's finished . . . no such thing as a predictable one hour service.

[mamajudy]

Ds18 will write notes in his Bible. Not often, but when he really feels a connection to a passage or wants to clarify something. He will also makes notes to reference different passages that a sermon tied together. The Bible he has right now is just about falling apart at the seams. I have offered to replace his Bible but he declines the offer because he has all of his notes in it. LOL

 

I think I will buy him a new one anyways and see if he wants to start transferring them over. I do worry that one day it will just desinigrate in his hands.

 

This is wonderful, that at the age of 18 he has already worn out his Bible! Oh, that this would be the case with more Christians!

[Excelsior! Academy]

Margins of the printed bulletin. A notebook. A random piece of paper. A couple of my friends attended a Baptist church where the pastor had a fill-in-the-blank outline of his sermon inserted with the bulletin. They were encouraged to fill it in as he preached.

I belong to a Non-Denominational church. Our Pastor has an overhead projector that he puts his sermon topics, bullet points, Scripture references, maps, etc. on. In High School and College I always wrote down what the teacher wrote on the board because I was taught if it was important enough for the teacher to write down, it was something we should know. In church I just make a little outline and jot down the Scripture references so I can browse them later in the week and meditate on the message. Writing things down also helps me keep my mind from wandering, which I am VERY prone to do!

 

We require it for our family. I don't know that I would attend a church that required it of it's members. It keeps our kids focused. We also require it of any children sitting with us. On any given Sunday we have 1 to 3 extra children sitting with us. They know if they sit they write. :)

 

Our bulletin is a fill-in-the-blank type and is projected on a screen so it is pretty easy to keep up.