Aaron Stevens-#3

Brotherly Love M.B. Church
3827 W. Ogden Ave Chicago
March 22, 2015
Low SES

Service description

The service was as black southern baptist as any I would find at my Texas hometown. It was vibrant and alive, with a congregation who were as active in the worship as the ministers. It was a long service, two hours total, but everything was fluid and at no point was there a lull or break. They celebrated with simple music that stood background to the voices raised by the whole congregation. The songs were old gospel hymns, punctuated by cries to Jesus. This was a place where the people felt moved by their understanding of the spirit and were glad to shout it out. Prayers were interspersed between songs and Scripture readings, and they were as interactive as the worship. Amens and hallelujahs were constant, both from the alter and from the people, and there was absolutely no irony. They all truly felt moved to throw out those amens like it was going out of style, which was pretty cool to witness. During the main prayer, the minister (a female, which was quite interesting to see) asked for prayer requests, and many members gave requests of various kinds. I had never before seen such interaction with the body and the alter, but it made sense in the context that they all were speaking to Jesus together. The sermon itself was given by a "prophetess", a title I had not hitherto heard of, and it was a long and detailed account of the story of Joseph. After, there was more singing, concluding with a  blessing.

Interesting aspects

The most interesting part of the experience was witnessing a very vocal and active atmosphere that was incredibly spiritual. The people would denounce the devil and lift up the name of Jesus, punctuating every statement with an amen or hallelujah. They were the most friendly congregation I've experienced, really vocalizing the "brotherly love" for which they were named. I stood out immediately as the only white person in this fully black church, but that made no difference in how they accepted me. During the greeting part, everyone moved about, and every person greeted me, many hugging me and blessing me for visiting. It was moving to feel that love even though I clearly was not part of the community. I found it very interesting at how spiritually oriented the church was. There was little focus on exegetical in-depth interpretation and teaching of Scripture and more emphasis on praising Jesus and asking for his blessings. The sermon was on forgiveness, and the prophetess related the account of Joseph, telling all to forgive everyone and hold nothing against anyone. The church had a very appealing self-awareness though, wherein they admitted that they were a poorer community but rich in spirit. The prophetess reminded all that pain and suffering is how we grow, and so tribulation must be embraced. Even as an unbeliever, I appreciated that message for it applies to all. Their self-awareness and spiritual orientation were different aspects than I've seen at more conservative white churches, and it very interesting to be part of.

Challenges

The primary challenge of not fitting in racially was not as difficult as I thought it might me, and the discomfort I had came only from me. I sat at a distance, but even so people still came to interact with me. My challenge was to get over myself, get over my discomfort at being the only white person there. I had to come to terms with my more privileged background than perhaps many of the people there had had, but that issue seemed to be only in my head than in anyone else's. Basically, I needed to get over myself, and that was harder than I thought it would be. I was never confronted with anything by anyone regarding my displacement, but I still sat by myself and kept mostly to myself unless someone came and greeted me. I didn't feel uncomfortable with the worship style in any way, in fact I rather admired the spirit with which the people worshiped. But I still could not help but feel awkward at my privileges. For instance, during one of the prayers the minister asked Jesus to be in the presence of the men, especially the young men, in the community and stop the killings. That's a prayer request I've never heard in any church I've visited, because it's not an issue most white communities deal with. It was a challenge to step outside of myself and try to understand the needs and also the strength of this community.

Illuminations from the service

Theologically, I didn't hear or experience anything new, as it was mostly the same kind of Baptist theology that I've heard around the south. One aspect I haven't heard much that this church really emphasized was rebuking the "devil", telling him to get behind them. They talked a lot about the temptations of satan, how he wanted them to remain in such sins like judging people and holding grudges. I don't remember hearing much about the fleshly desires, but there was an emphasis on trials and tribulations that they will continue to face. This focus on the trials reminded me that the faith they have is continuously tried in a way that I'm not sure it is for middle/upper class folk. Yet they gave generously to the church, each other, and the community, assured that they will be rewarded later on. While this giving may be also present in more predominantly white churches, this church was more vocal about it it seemed. They also have less to give, so when they do it's rather significant. I suppose that the way they act is trying to live in both faith and works, which was touching to see. As I said, there were no new interpretations, and the interpretations the prophetess were somewhat basic, though no less important. Perhaps an illumination I had is that many lessons are worth reteaching multiple times, such as forgiveness.