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.