Buildings



	This is St James’ Church in Bushey. It has been built in a very traditional style and parts of the church are very old. There is thought to have been a church on the site since 1066.



At the entrance to the church is a lychgate which is a place where coffins were rested before being taken inside the church for a funeral.



		Just inside the door is a font carved out of stone. It is used to hold water for baptism. This is a special ceremony for welcoming Christians into the church family. Some churches baptise babies and children while other churches only baptise adults.


	This is a baptistry at Bushey Baptist Church which is used to baptise adults who have decided to become Christians and follow Jesus. They are dipped right under the water as a sign of a new beginning in their lives.


	Many churches have been built in the shape of a cross facing East towards Israel where Jesus lived. The seats in St James’ Church are made of wood and look like benches with backs. They are called pews. Other churches have chairs. There may be special cushions for kneeling on to pray.


	The gap between the pews is called the aisle and it leads to the special table called the altar. The altar is used to prepare a special meal of bread and wine called Holy Communion.

Before Jesus died in Jerusalem he shared a last supper with his friends. He asked them to remember him when they ate bread and drank wine together. Two thousand years later, nearly 2 billion people still remember him in this way.

There are seats near the altar for a choir and musicians. Some altars have very ornate embroidered cloths on them. Different colours are used in churches at different times of the year. White and gold are used at Easter and purple is used in Advent before Christmas.

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