Orientation of churches

When people build a church, they usually want it to face a certain direction. This direction is called the orientation of the church.

Now imagine standing in front of the church and looking straight ahead. If the front door of the church is facing the East, it means that when the sun rises in the morning, the light shines directly into the church. This is because the direction of the rising sun is in the East.

Some people think that facing the East is important because it represents the direction of paradise and is the direction that Jesus was said to have ascended into heaven.

Other people might want their church to face a different direction because of the location of their community or because of other cultural or historical reasons.

So, the orientation of a church is like the direction it is facing, and people choose that direction for different reasons.