Q.1
Most of us are probably broadly aware of churches holding a Harvest Festival during the autumn; but what is the official church name for 'the front end of the cycle', when prayers are offered in the spring for safety and prosperity over the summer?
  • Lent
  • Passiontide
  • Easter
  • Rogation
Q.2
In churches where there are 'hangings' ~ not executions, we hasten to clarify; but rather, decorative fabric hangings on the front of the altar and perhaps such fittings as the lectern and/or pulpit ~ these may well be changed during the course of the liturgical year for reasons of visual variety and particular symbolism, along with any matching vestments for the clergy, such as the stole or chasuble. ONE of the following statements is INACCURATE: which one?
  • Purple (or blue), as a rich and sombre colour, is associated with the seasons of Advent (the month or so prior to Christmas) and Lent (the six weeks or so prior to Easter)
  • Red is fairly obviously associated with blood (as in the Feast Days of martyrs) and the fire of Pentecost, and, by further extension from this, to such sacramental occasions as confirmation and ordination
  • White is used on Christmas Day and through the Epiphany season, probably for its association with innocence and purity (and in the northern hemisphere, seasonally with snow!)
  • Green is associated with Harvest Festival
Q.3
Which of the following is true about these two 'rites of passage' in the life of a mainstream Christian churchgoer?
  • 'I was baptised by a priest and I shall be confirmed by a priest as well, probably the same one'
  • 'A priest baptised me, but for my Confirmation I will kneel before a bishop'
  • 'I was baptised by a bishop, but for Confirmation any priest is sufficient'
  • 'My baptism was done by a Lay Reader and my Confirmation will be done by a Deacon'
Q.4
Why might you sometimes see an emblem, in the form of a fish, on the back of somebody's car?
  • The car owner is a practising, probably Evangelical Christian and wishes to make it clear that they consider themself 'a fisher of men' like Jesus' earliest disciples
  • There is a reference here to the Old Testament story of Jonah and the Great Fish (usually considered to have been a whale, though these are not usual in the seas around the Holy Land) ... whose journey took on an unexpected dimension, yet was all under God's control
  • The Biblical Greek word for 'fish' was a semi-secret acronym for Jesus, by which the earliest Christians identified themselves
  • It offers a reminder of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, which Jesus accomplished using just the contents of a young lad's lunchbox, which consisted of a very few each of bread rolls and fish
Q.5
How many Stations of the Cross are there in a complete traditional sequence?
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
Q.6
Which of the following is NOT a correct 'Quarter-Day' within the conventional church calendar?
  • Lady Day
  • Petertide
  • Michaelmas
  • Childermas
Q.7
The custom of blurting the almost involuntary little prayer 'Bless you!' for someone who has just sneezed, refers back to precedent first set by a religious leader at the time of a major historical epidemic: who, or which one?
  • Pope Gregory during the Bubonic Plague in Rome, c.590
  • The Archbishop of Canterbury during the Black Death (14th century)
  • The King of England during the Plague of London, 1665
  • Queen Victoria during a cholera outbreak in 19th-century London
Q.8
Most acts of worship will include a time when the leader (priest, or whoever) speaks to the assembled people, probably picking out and developing points from a passage of scripture which would have been read out earlier. Which of these is NOT one of the usual titles for this part of a formal service?
  • Sermon
  • Address
  • Homily
  • Intimations
Q.9
Most local churches try the best they can to maintain an attractive interior by maintenance, cleaning and also by the use of flowers and other occasional decorations. In some places there will be a regular rota of flower arrangers, except perhaps during the penitential seasons of Lent and Advent; others will at least make such effort as resources and circumstances permit, for 'high and holy days' and special occasions. Which of the following floral (&/or similar) decorations would you be LEAST likely to find in a typical modest church?
  • A Christmas crib scene, with manger and model figures (including animals)
  • An Easter Garden, with empty tomb and spring flowers
  • An Ascensiontide display
  • A Harvest Festival display of plants and produce
Q.10
Which of the following is probably the LEAST spiritually significant factor in the rise of Easter Eggs as a seasonal / 'religious' confection?
  • Rich, fatty or otherwise indulgent foods have been 'off the menu' for reasonably serious Christians, as a practice of self-denial, during the 40 days of Lent that precede Easter; so the festival offers a timely excuse to eat something more appealing again!
  • The manufacturers of cards, confectionery and other attractive 'token' goods are always keen to take advantage of traditional occasions
  • The egg is a symbol of new life emerging from within something unpromisingly solid; the Resurrection picks up this image too
  • Children can be easily persuaded to hunt for eggs and/or decorate them on a fine (?) spring morning during the more 'boring' stages of a church service
0 h : 0 m : 1 s