How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Every Sunday morning, then, since John could remember, they had taken to the streets, the Grimes family on their way to church. (1.1.4)
John's entire life is punctuated by religion. Every single week, for all of his life, his entire family has walked down the street to church. This tradition defines them, marking them as a church-going family, especially since they walk past all of the "sinners" on their way to church.
Quote #2
When he was young, John had paid no attention in Sunday school, and always forgot the golden text, which earned him the wrath of his father. (1.1.9)
John was not always such a good student of religion as he is now. This quote reveals that he was actually a bad student when he was a kid. His inability to memorize the Bible is equated with his father's anger, which, as we know, is violent and explosive. That might be behind his motivation to become a better student.
Quote #3
Then the church seemed to swell with the Power it held, and, like a planet rocking in space, the temple rocked with the Power of God. (1.1.17)
Just a little storefront church, the Grimes' family church might not seem like much. But it is the power of the emotions that are unleashed in that space that make it an important place in the community. The narrator compares it to a planet, as though it had its own orbit, its own place in space; it grows in the minds of the people inside of it.