Bethany Weidemann Visit 3

Church Visit 3

Church Name: Lawndale Christian Community Church

Church Address: 3827 W. Ogden Chicago, Illinois 60623

Date Attended: March 15, 2015

Church Category: Lower socioeconomic majority

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

The worship service took place inside the gym of one of LCCCs buildings, and the chairs were set up all around the center stage. I have been in a few services with church in the round configurations, but never with a congregation full of strangers. Although I really like it theoretically, and my church configuration at home is U shaped and so has something of a similar feel, I realized that that is a much more comfortable experience when I know the people around me. I felt like it really exposes everyone, and, as a visitor, that made me a bit uncomfortable. There was actually less congregational singing at LCCC than at my regular church which I was somewhat surprised by, but I really enjoyed the choir and the special music in the service. Coach’s preaching was also enjoyable and felt like a fairly normal sermon to me although he did get more response from the congregation than pastors at my regular church and he also referenced people in attendance in his speaking more than my usual pastors do (although it’s not unheard of at my church). My church is also predominantly white (in America) or a mix of white and Asian (at home), so being in an mainly African American setting was different from what I normally experience.

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

I really liked the very tangible feel of community within the congregation. While people were coming in at the beginning it was clear that most people knew each other and greeted each other often with more conversation than just a hello. As Coach preached, he mentioned people there by name and situation in multiple kinds of illustrations and examples. Hearing even just snippets of people’s lives and how those were connected to the scripture was really special, and I liked how obviously engaged so many people were. There were amens and clapping and murmurs of approval that were not disruptive but that showed agreement and support to those singing and speaking, which I really liked. It felt more active than the listening I usually observe at my own church.

Dr. Lee—you also got a special shout out for a variety of things (MLK Day talk at Wheaton, jogging and texting and pushing a stroller all at the same time, as observed by Coach, etc.) at the beginning of the service (although it turns out you’re not even 1/100^th as good as Jesus, basically) so that was a fun connection. J

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

Although I did love the community feel, I did feel like not a part of that community (through no fault of anyone there—I had multiple people introduce themselves and got a hug at the end of the service). I was visiting by myself which may have made me more self-conscious of being there alone, and I am visibly not a part of the majority demographic of the church. Even though it wasn’t exclusively an African American congregation, it was obvious that I was visiting and not from the local community that seems to draw most of the people there. Although I felt safe in the church itself, I was already primed for feeling out of my comfort zone by my drive into the city and into Lawndale, a place where I did not feel comfortable. I had never been there before, I was by myself, I have hardly any experience in inner city North America, and I am prone to worry, so this was a step out of my comfort zone, for sure. The experience of just getting to church colored how I felt during the service even though the church itself was familiar in many ways as far as church services go. I don’t usually feel aware of my privileges or prejudices while at church, so this was a good challenge for me, I think, to recognize those things and think about how they are affecting my life when I don’t have to think about them (which is, itself, a privilege).

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

I was really moved by the ways that Coach applied his teaching to the lives of people in the service. One of his points was that we glorify God when we fulfilled the purpose He has given us (like Jesus glorifying God through dying on the cross), and Coach gave examples like being a janitor, being a teacher, being a cook, and being a CTA bus driver; and he had members of the community to go along with those and other examples he gave as well. I know that the examples at my own church would have been very different, and I think they would have fit the mold of what people think of as “good jobs” a bit better. It was powerful, though, to be reminded that you really can drive a bus and be someone who glorifies God in that. People in the congregation were really active in engaging with his sermon, and I was challenged to make applications to my own life as well as to rethink how I judge people based on what they do.