Nathan Richard - Church Visit #2

Nathan Richard - Church Visit #2

Church name: Lawndale Christian Community Church

Church address: 3860 W. Ogden Ave, Chicago, IL

Date attended: 2/15/15

Church category: Significantly lower socioeconomic demographic

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

I thought the worship serve at Lawndale was fantastic. The atmosphere revealed a true vibrancy in the church members, as everyone seemed excited to be at church that morning. I felt very welcomed, as several people approached me and introduced themselves, wishing me well and saying things such as “I hope you get something great out of the service!”, a cheerful and honest remark that encouraged me. The first focus of the service was on the music, with congregational singing and then choral, Gospel music. The enthusiasm of the singers was in stark contrast to what I’m used to, and it was quite refreshing. While I love our hymns and singing around the piano, there was a little more electricity in the air at Lawndale with the music. The format of the sermon was similar to what I was used to, though I missed not being able to have communion, which is one tradition our church does each week.

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

The sermon focused on incredibly practical financial lessons, from the text of Jesus’ parable of the talents. While my church tends to overemphasize doctrine and intellectualism in our Christian walk, I thought Coach connected very well with those attending, offering very helpful and realistic solutions to desperate problems that the attendees were facing. I think that in the context of Lawndale, this message was incredibly pertinent. However, I also think that these content of the message would have been just as helpful in my regular setting, as Coach described fundamental problems that plague all socioeconomic spheres. The entire worship service was geared towards connecting our spiritual life with our daily lives. There was an emphasis on the fact that the Bible has radical implications on life, and that it should transform our lives. This is a beautiful truth that was very clearly communicated and clearly encouraged all those attending – not just temporally, but in a deeper sense.

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

This is a tough question, but I think the most challenging part was that I felt like an outsider. Though, as I mentioned, everyone was incredibly welcoming to me as a visitor, I knew that there was a very real barrier between myself and those around me. This manifested itself in moments such as when the choir sang. Though there is absolutely nothing wrong with black Gospel music, I am very unfamiliar with it and was unable to feel comfortable with it. Furthermore, at the risk of sounding prideful I thought that the sermon did not really apply to me. Coach spoke against issues such as debt, spending more than I earn, budgeting, and investing, but none of these issues are problems that I’m faced with. Particularly as a Business/Economics major I understood the necessity and helpfulness of Coach’s words to those around me, but I did not hear anything that I did not fundamentally know and was already applying in my life. Again, while there is nothing wrong with this, it did create a material distinction between myself and regular attendees.

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 loved witnessing the joy of music in a spiritual setting again. As a music major, music is obviously something that has had a huge impact on my life, and I cherish many wonderful moments as a teenager where music brought me much closer to God and to those participating in the music around me. However, in the past few years music in church has lost some of that appeal to me. By having studied music it has lost its “mystery”, and playing hymns for roughly 8 years in the same setting has caused me to become somewhat jaded. Not only am I not experiencing the joy I once felt through the music I play, but other members at my church now regularly express disappointment with the way I choose to communicate through music. The joy I saw in the performers today gave me a glimpse back at the joy I used to have, and I hope to re-commit to capturing that joy and spiritual encouragement not only for myself, but for those around me as well.