OCR GCSE Religious Studies Christianity Practices: a complete J625 overview

What this module demands

Christianity Practices is the second half of the OCR J625/01 paper. It asks how Christians live out the beliefs covered in the beliefs module: how they worship and pray, the sacraments that mark their lives, the festivals and pilgrimages that shape their year, and how they serve and share the faith locally and worldwide. As always, OCR rewards accurate use of sources of wisdom and authority and balanced evaluation. This overview ties the dot-point pages together.

Forms of worship and prayer

Christian worship takes several forms: liturgical (set order from a service book, centred on the Eucharist), non-liturgical (flexible, sermon-centred, with extempore prayer) and informal or charismatic (spontaneous). Christians also worship privately at home. Prayer is communication with God: it can be set (the Lord's Prayer) or extempore (spontaneous), and includes adoration, thanksgiving, confession and intercession. Worship is grounded in Jesus' promise "where two or three gather in my name, there am I" (Matthew 18:20).

The sacraments: baptism and the Eucharist

A sacrament is an outward sign of inward grace. Catholics and Orthodox keep seven; most Protestants keep two. Baptism (infant or believers') marks entry into the Church and the washing away of sin (Matthew 28:19; John 3:5). The Eucharist re-enacts the Last Supper: Catholics believe in transubstantiation (the bread and wine become Christ's body and blood), while many Protestants see a memorial ("do this in remembrance of me", Luke 22:19). This divergence is a favourite evaluation topic.

Pilgrimage and festivals

A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place (Lourdes for healing, Iona for quiet, Jerusalem, Rome, Walsingham) to draw closer to God. Christians also keep festivals that re-live the life of Jesus: Christmas (his birth) and Easter (his resurrection, the most important festival, climaxing Holy Week). Catholics and Orthodox value pilgrimage highly; many Protestants see no special holiness in places (John 4:24).

The role of the Church in the community

Christians live out love of neighbour through the Church. Locally, churches run food banks, support street pastors, provide groups and pastoral care, and mark life's key moments. Worldwide, they support charities such as Christian Aid and CAFOD, giving emergency aid and long-term development. This service is grounded in the sheep and the goats, "whatever you did for one of the least of these ... you did for me" (Matthew 25:40), and "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26).

Mission, evangelism and reconciliation

Mission is the Church's whole task; evangelism is sharing the faith, grounded in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). Christians belong to the worldwide Church and work for ecumenism (Christian unity, John 17:21). Reconciliation means restoring broken relationships, with God (through the cross) and between people, making Christians peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), as in Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall questions covering the whole module. Attempt them, then check the solutions.

1. What is the difference between set and extempore prayer? (2 marks)
2. How many sacraments do Catholics keep, and how many do most Protestants keep? (2 marks)
3. What does transubstantiation mean? (1 mark)
4. Name two places of Christian pilgrimage. (2 marks)
5. Which is the most important Christian festival, and what does it celebrate? (2 marks)
6. Name two ways a local church serves its community. (2 marks)
7. Name one worldwide Christian charity. (1 mark)
8. What is the Great Commission? (1 mark)