Sarah Drury - Church Visit #1

Church name: St. Michael Catholic Church

Church address: 310 S. Wheaton Ave. Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: February 1, 2015

Church category: More Liturgical

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

I am a member at Wheaton Bible Church in Carol Stream. Wheaton bible is a non-denominational contemporary church. The Catholic Church is much more traditional and liturgical than Wheaton Bible. The service I attended was very different than what I am used to on a Sunday morning. When we entered the sanctuary there was a pool of holy water that was used for cleansing. Before you walk into the pew, you bow before the cross of Jesus, which is hanging front and center in the middle of the stage. You then take your place in the pew and bow for prayer. As the service began, the priest entered and made his way to the front of the sanctuary. The service consisted of hymns, readings, call and response, a message from the priest, and concluded with the taking of the Eucharist. The service carries much more tradition than the contemporary service that I am used to on a regular basis. It was very interesting for me to experience something that is outside of my normal Sunday service.

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

The service was very simple and straightforward. The entire service from beginning to end was planned out. Majority of the service seemed to be rehearsed. All of the songs, prayers, readings, and the message were predetermined. Everyone in the congregation was well accustomed to the layout of the service and knew exactly what to do throughout each portion of the service. I asked the friend that I went with about it and she explained that the service would follow the same schedule for each Sunday throughout all Catholic Churches. This was interesting to me because although the service I regularly attend is planned out, this felt much more scheduled and rehearsed. It was also interesting that during the singing, there was only one woman leading and one organ playing. This was appealing to me because it allowed me to focus my attention more on the Lord. Sometimes I get thrown off in my regular service because of all the different instruments and the show that is on stage.

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

I think the most disorienting aspect of the service was the taking of communion. The Catholic Church holds this tradition in very high regards. If you are not of the Catholic you are not allowed to partake in the Eucharist. There were many steps to the process of taking communion. The tradition is that after the priest blesses the bread and the wine, it literally takes on the body and blood of Christ. It was very interesting to me to see the amount of detail and care that went into this process. The priest set out gold dishes and held up each element and blessed it. This portion of the service took the greatest amount of time (more time went into preparation for communion than the actually partaking of the elements). After the long process of blessing each element, the congregation moved forward to partake. Afterwards, the priest carefully wiped down each dish.

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

The Catholic Church holds a much higher reverence for God than I am used to. I think sometimes we come before the Lord at church with a sense of complacency. The sanctuary is a place of respect and reverence for the Lord. When the people entered the sanctuary, they bowed before the cross of Christ, which was hanging central in the church. In Scripture, the Old Testament specifically highlights the holiness of the Lord and how we should approach him with complete awe and reverence. The Catholic Church seeks to have this same type of reverence we see in the Old Testament times in parallel to the temple as a holy place. This was eye opening for me because it is easy to approach the Lord by viewing him as simply our Loving Father. But the Lord is almighty, powerful, and holy and we should approach his thrown with that in mind.