Mariana Maxey- church visit 2

All Souls Anglican Church

25W741 Jewell Road, Wheaton, Illinois 60187

March 8 

Liturgical

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

The set up of the church had the pews angled in, and in the front was a circle of railing to kneel at. The songs were serious and the congregation joined in loudly. I could see many images and paintings around the walls, including a mural of Jesus on the back wall above the doors. It was painted by Professor Sheesley from the Wheaton art department. The atmosphere alone exhibited more awe and reverence than the church I used to attend which was held on a cement basketball court. I loved that congregation members had contributed to the aesthetics of the church building as opposed to the separate roles of attendees and leaders in previous churches I’ve attended.

 

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

This was one of the most liturgical churches I had ever attended, and it reminded me of the churches I attended when I lived in England. Having readings which were meant to be read all together gave me a sense of being involved and enveloped in the service. As a chronic daydreamer, I cherished the opportunity to follow along in the program with my voice. Not only did this keep me grounded in the room, but also helped to diminish the stark separation between the congregation and the leaders of the service. While the majority of the speakers and prayers were men, there were a few women who got to read from the Bible. I felt included by this fact. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

For me the most challenging aspect was the communion time. Row by row, each pew walked to the front and kneeled around the railing, accepting the bread and sipping the wine out of a golden chalice. Up to this point I had relished in the beauty and ceremony of the flowing robes, candles and prewritten responses. As I watched the first two rows accepting communion, I realized that I didn’t want to kneel before the “fancy men”. Though this ancient tradition has nothing to do with worshipping people, I have a bit of a sore spot in regards to the abuse of power by men in the church. For that immature reason, I didn’t go up to receive communion. This is a classic example of “making a point” that negatively impacts me alone. 

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

I saw the scriptures in a whole new way. The Bible was  brought into and out of  the sanctuary by a processional, was ornately decorated and put on prominent display on the table in the front. Through the solemn reading of the scripture, and the ancient prayers, I was made aware of how I was connected to centuries of tradition and enduring truths read from the Bible. In my regular context, very little regard is given for the book of the Bible, and we are often told not to venerate the book, because its only a book. Witnessing this reverence to the Bible helped me to hear the words as the real words from God, inspired and given to us. I felt more sensitive to that the things I listened to, partly because I saw the act of reading the Scriptures as sacred, rather than menial. The ritual connected to the reading of the Scripture is an aspect that I miss when I go to another church.

Mariana Maxey - Church visit #1

Mariana Maxey - Church visit #1

Wheaton Community Church

520 East Roosevelt Road Wheaton, IL

October 18, 2014

Different racial and socioeconomic make up.

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

I attended Wheaton Sudanese Evangelical Church geared towards Arabic speaking Africans.  The congregation of 30-40 people meets in a windowless room deep within the larger building of Wheaton Evangelical Free Church, located on 520 E. Roosevelt Road. The sunday service mixed Arabic music with English sermon and consisted of exuberant praise songs, finishing with an emphatic sermon based on Isaiah 59. During the praise song portion of the service, a college-aged man played the keyboard and led us in worship songs. These songs utilized the rhythmic drumming blended with Arabic lyrics. I loved the ability to engage with the song leader. This was different from my experience with Western led churches that have a strong line of demarcation between the song leaders and the congregation. At times, the people in front can be seen as performers, where as in the Sudanese congregation all people were participants. 

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

In the congregation, one young man played a stretched skin drum, and a woman played an instrument made of two layers of flattened food tins, filled with small objects which made a metallic noise. This instrument which measured about 18 inches had peeling paint with arabic writing on it. Others used simple instruments or clapped and swayed and stomped. I loved the level of activity and movement which the songs invoked. After the service, the youth gathered around and sang more songs into the microphones. The Churchgoers of the church welcomed me warmly after the service, and invited me to join them to eat Kisrra, a flat pancake like bread, over which we poured a sauce made from chopped and boiled okra.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

The atmosphere of the room was not particularly beautiful. though I’ve never been part of a church in a lovely setting or ornately decorated church, I’ve often longed for an aesthetically pleasing environment. In the case of the sudanese church, the room alloted to this congregation was a classroom or meeting room with fluorescent light and very little decoration. I often like to stare out of a window or breathe fresh air while I worship, and this was not a place conducive to the senses. 

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

I learned a few of the customs of Sudan from Julia, her sister Hawa (meaning Eve in Arabic), and their mother. Most of the congregation were refugees who came to America before the division of the countries into South Sudan and North Sudan. Julia’s mother told me that “the first official language of Sudan is Arabic and the second official language is Arabic.” 

In the praise songs, the words were directed towards Allah, and used many Arabic religious words that I recognized from speaking Indonesian. Sudanese traders are reported to have been the first converts to Islam in Subsaharan Africa. The history of region can help to explain the use of Arabic as the official language in Sudan. The use of the word Allah for God is important as we can learn that Arabic speaking Christians worship God without the obstacles that we have developed from the fear of Islam.

 

Larryon Truman Church visit #3

Blog Title-  Larryon Truman - Church visit #3

Church name: Church of the Resurrection

Church Address: 935 W Union Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: April 3, 2015

Church Category: More Liturgical

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

I went to the Good Friday service at Church of the Resurrection. The first think I noticed was how dark the sanctuary was. It had hanging lights that were lit in a way that mimicked candle light. I sat in the back right where it was almost impossible to read the liturgy. It was similar in the way that the speaker was able to interact with the congregation. I had expected the preaching to be read off a paper like the rest of the service was, but I found him to be very engaging and lively. It was different in the way that it had a liturgical aspect to it. In my regular context I have no idea how long service will go, but here, you are able to follow along and know where you are in the service.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

The most interesting part to me was probably the “walk of the cross” where elders of the church carried the cross around the sanctuary to represent the walk that Christ went through to calvary. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

It was just really dark. I had a hard time focusing and staying awake. Other than a few babies crying every once in a while the whole place is silent. I also had a hard time reading since it was so dark.

What aspects of scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

It was really cool to see people read the scriptures together and to have a sort of call and response aspect to it. It was very communal and everyone was on the same page, literally. When the page was turned the entire room turned together and was in unity.

Larryon Truman Church visit #2

Blog Title- Larryon Truman Church visit #2

Church name: Evangelical Free Church of Bloomington

Church Address: Bloomington, IL

Date attended: March 29, 2015

Church Category: Different Ethnic

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

It was similar in the fact that they played contemporary(ish) Christian worship and had a missionary speaker as the guest. They turned the lights all the way down to encourage individual worship which is different that my regular context. It started and ended on time which is also a little different than my church. It was comprised of all white congregants with the exception of an Asia-Pacific couple that sat next to me. The preaching was engaging and was missional in theme, which is to be expected. The missionary opened an orphanage in Haiti and has several close ties with that church. It was not that much different than my church honestly.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

It was awesome getting to hear a missionary speak about his life and his calling. He genuinely loves the people of Haiti and you could see it on his face. Furthermore, he had a very smart busieness plan on how to make his orphanage and ministry grow. It was really cool to hear that part of his story.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

The band actually had an interesting dynamic to it. It was comprised of several different age groups from a high schooler playing piano to an elderly gentleman playing the 12 string guitar. The volume was very low and easily controlled in the back. It seemed very performance driven almost and all around kind of uncomfortable.

What aspects of scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

In all honesty, this church was not that much different than my regular context with the expectation that it was all white, whereas I go to an international church.

Larryon Truman - Church visit #1

Blog Title - Larryon Truman - Church visit #1

Church name: Oakbrook Community Church en Espanol

Church Address: 3100 Midwest Road, Oakbrook, IL

Date attended: March 1, 2015

Church Category: Lower socioeconomic demographic

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

So, this is actually an interesting one. It is the Spanish congregation that meets at my church’s buildlign. It is entirely comprised of Spanish speakers. Furthermore, no one is actually from Oakbrook, but people come from as far as Auruora. It was similar in the sense that they played songs that had their english counterpart with the exception of the decibel level. They turned up the music so loud! And the only instruments were the piano, drums and tamberines. The preaching was entirely in Spanish, as were the testimonies and transitions. I believe that it is the same denomination as the church I attend.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

It was awesome to see how lively people were getting in their worship. Music (as always) can be better, but they took what they had and ran with it. It was really encouraging seeing people worship in Spanish.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

It was very very long. They didn’t really use the projectors for anything but the songs. So it was kind of hard to follow along with what the pastor was getting at. There were several components to the service that did not have a cohesive element to them.

What aspects of scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

My church is international, but it was really cool to see this sort of church unity as I saw here. There were only about 30 people at the service and it was a riot. It was very encouraging to see them actually live out the fruit of the Spirit in Love and Joy.

Erica Heller- Church Visit #3

Church name: St. Piux V Catholic Church

Church address: 1919 S. Ashland Ave, Chicago

Date attended: 4/2

Church category: Socio-economic

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

I went to the Maundy Thursday evening mass. The sanctuary was much more ornate than any of the other churches I have been a member of, with shrines (I'm not sure if that is the right word) with candles in front of them, the statues were covered, I think because of lent. I have been to Maundy Thursday services before, but I don't think I've ever attended a church service with foot washing. The structure of the liturgy was pretty similar to the liturgy in the ELCA Lutheran church I attended until middle school, as much as I could understand it. 

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

I really found the sense of connection with the church catholic (across time and space) really appealing. I also found the bilingual service to be interesting, because the service would switch back and forth between Spanish and English (the Priest just naturally flowing between the two) and only announcements were translated. Neither language seemed to be prioritized.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

I did not love the style of music. I'm not sure how to describe it and there was certainly nothing actually wrong with it, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Also, there was someone with a camera filming (possibly for the news or something?) and I found that distracting (and I don't really like people taking pictures or videos in church anyways).

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

I took communion (I'm not sure if I was supposed to or not, but I did--it was day celebrating the last supper!) and was really struck by the fact that I was in fellowship, I was breaking bread with all the people in the church. Though I do not know them and though we come from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, we are brothers and sisters and serve one Lord and together make up one body, the church. There was also a point where there was incense and candles, and as I was watching the incense float up, I was struck with the imagery that the smoke is an image of all the prayers of all the people of God going up before him in heaven. 

Mikey Chang - Church Visit #3

Church name: Grace and Peace Community Church

Church address: 2100 N Kildare Ave, Chicago, IL 60639

Date attended: Sunday, March 29, 2015

Church category: Different socioeconomic group

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

This was probably the worship service I could most relate to in terms of the layout of the service. There was a 30-40 minute prayer session that preceded the actual worship service which was very emotional and charismatic. They sang the same chorus "to worship you I live, to worship you I live, I live to worship you" throughout this whole time. This is actually something I'm used to and enjoy partaking in. Afterwards, they continued into a time of praise in which they sang contemporary Christian music, something I was very familiar with. However, the sermon was very emotional and you could tell that there was a certain type of feeling trying to be created. I wasn't as used to this and it felt more of a motivational speech type sermon if anything. The congregation was predominantly Hispanic or African-American so it was definitely a change in setting. They were very friendly and warming however. I feel like compared to my youth group back at home, I felt most relatable with this church in terms of economic situations and struggles.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

There seemed to be another level of desperation in these people's worship. While I'm not saying that other church's aren't in that state of need for the Lord, I felt like I could feel the people's need for Christ and their genuine passion was oozing out from their song and prayer. It reminded me of a mission's trip I took to the Dominican Republic. There was a lot of emotion. And yes, emotion isn't necessarily enough to carry someone, but there was an overwhelming sense of need for the Lord and it was awesome to witness and be a part of it. Another thing that stuck out was the sheer number of people that attended the service. The room was packed by the end of the service. When we arrived, the surrounding neighborhood wasn't the greatest and it is surprising how many communities members came out. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

As I have talked before about the sheer amount of emotion that emanated from their praise and prayer, it made me nervous thinking, "what if they couldn't stir up that emotion each and every week?' It honestly seemed like emotion carried this service and that the people were able to be so into it because the speaker or the time of worship hit a certain emotional note. Would the people still be so invested and so willing to give up that much out of their day if it was in a completely different context where emotion wasn't the driving force? And while I see why that emotion is so powerful, it just became a worrying factor for me. A quick note I wanted to mention was the length of the sermon. While I've heard long sermons, I was surprised to hear a 40-45 minute sermon come out of this service. It wasn't a bad sermon, it was just kind of long and dragging at times.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

It was difficult when I began to listen to the sermon and realized how different it was compared to what I was used to. While it was not like the sermon wasn't rooted in the Word, as I stated earlier, it was very emotional and motivational speech like. It was a very practical sermon versus a teaching sermon. I didn't think it was bad, however, while I was listening it made me realize how they have catered their message to their body. If I was in that situation, it might not be the best thing for me to hear something about some theologically deep topic such as sanctification or justification. Those wouldn't spur me to come back or keep the faith going compared to what was being preached. For me it was evident that the preacher was trying to stir up a particular emotion and response. This in fact helped me open my eyes to the differences in sermon styles and messages. They did a good job in catering to their specific audience and teach correct theology without it becoming a lecture.