Cultural Diversity - The Civil Service

Land Registry Cultural DiversityPractices and symbolsUnlike the other two faiths of the Abrahamic tradition, Judaism and Islam, Christianityhas no special dietary laws, although some Christians abstain from alcohol andtobacco. Apart from the robes of church leaders (for those denominations withleaders), priests, monks and nuns, there are also no distinctive items of clothing. Thesymbol of the cross is, however, very significant for Christians, representing thecrucifixion of Jesus Christ. In recent years the symbol of the fish has also seen aresurgence. This is because the letters in the Greek word for fish can be related to thewords “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour”.The central ritual of the majority of Christian worship is the Eucharist or HolyCommunion, a sharing of bread and wine which commemorates the last supper ofChrist with the apostles. Baptism is also a feature of most Christian denominations,whether of infants or adults.The black-led churchesOne of the areas in which Christianity is currently growing most rapidly is in the blackledchurches of the UK. These churches represent 160 different denominations withover 100,000 members. Most of the churches are of African-Caribbean origin anddeveloped because some black people felt excluded in traditional English churches.The majority of African-Caribbean Christians now attend a black-led church, althoughnone of these churches exclude white members. Services are generally longer andmore exuberant than the traditional “English service” and the interpretation of the Bibleis often more literal and conservative. One of the largest black-led churches in the UKis the New Testament Church of God, which has its headquarters in Northampton; ithas 30,000 members in over 100 congregations throughout the UK.CalendarsThe date of Jesus’ birth was established after the actual event and there is notcomplete agreement about the actual date. The Gregorian calendar assumed thatfrom the moment of Jesus’ birth it became the Year of Our Lord 1 (AD). The OrthodoxChristian Churches celebrate the Christian festivals on different dates to the West. Thetime lag arose following the adoption in the West of the Gregorian calendar.8