Sue’s religion
Late again! Sue dashes up the steps of the small, white church in
Atlanta, Georgia, and tugs open the door. Slipping inside, she hurries
to her Sunday school class.
The Sunday school room is just a plain room with some tables and chairs
in it. The children in the class sit at two long tables. As Sue enters,
Mr. Martin, the Sunday school teacher, is reading from the Bible. The
Bible is a very important part of Sue’s religion. She believes it tells
her how God wants her to
live and behave. Sue believes that God made the world and everything in
it. He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to earth to teach all people to be
good and to save them from sin.
When Sue is older she will be baptized. She believes that before a
person can be baptized he must be old enough to understand what baptism
means. When she is baptized, her whole body will be dipped under water.
After Sunday school, the children go to the part of the church where
services are held. They join the grown-ups in a big, plain room filled
with benches. The service begins with everyone singing hymns. The
minister reads from the Bible and gives a sermon.
Sue is a Baptist. Baptists are Christians and believe in the teachings
of Jesus Christ. Baptists are also Protestants. Protestant is the name
given to all Christian groups outside the Roman Catholic and Eastern
Orthodox Churches. There are hundreds of Protestant groups, but the
Baptist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian groups are
among the largest.
