Caleb Luk - Church Visit #1

Caleb Luk – Church visit 1

Church of the Resurrection

935 W. Union Ave. Wheaton, IL 60187

September 20, 2015

Significantly more liturgical

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

The worship service began with the hymn, Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, praising the Lord for who He is. Afterwards, there was then a person who led the congregation to response titled the Celebrant. Inside the handout given, the words to respond with were printed out. In the church I regularly attend, there isn’t much within the handouts. The handouts of my church are more of an outline of the service rather than the detailed pamphlets that this church gave. The worship service also had multiple readings of Scripture from various passages of the Old and New Testament, not just the passage on which the sermon was based on. During Communion, there was the choice of either grape juice or wine. Also, there was gluten-free bread available for participants as well. In my regular church service, there is only grape juice and a wafer. At the end of the service, the Celebrant gave a blessing and dismissed the congregation.

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

The diversity in the way that the service used the gifts present was truly incredible. For example, the music group did not only consist of the contemporary style – guitarist, bass, drums, and singers, but also had a choir of various age as well. What made the choir even more interesting was the fact that the conductor of the choir was a college student. To see that the church was willing to allow someone who was fairly young lead the choir group was great to see. Another aspect that diversity was seen was that the leaders of the service had both genders helping out. There was a woman deacon as well as a man deacon. I thought this symbolized well the fact that God has given gifts to all people. To see that the church allowed men and women to serve with the gifts that God had given them was a great testimony to God’s work within the church.

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

There honestly wasn’t much about the worship service that made me disoriented. Having visited another Anglican church, I was aware of the liturgical aspect. What I still was adapting to was the fact that it wasn’t the head pastor who was giving the sermon. From a participant’s perspective, the Celebrant with the robes that he wore seemed to deem him as the one leading the congregation in the service. To have one of the deacons give the sermon was a bit of a surprise to me.

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 think that by not having the head pastor give the sermon alluded to me that the sermon was not the focal point of the service. Communion was the main focus in the service. The head pastor lead the service in this point of the service, and the choices in song during this time pointed to the importance of this action. I was reminded that the Christian life is not about amassing knowledge of who God is, but rather it is a relationship with Him. Communion reminded me that I am utterly dependent on God to live a life that is bringing me closer into His likeness. If it was not for His sustenance, I would not be able to go through life. By partaking in the Lord’s supper, I am strengthened and nourished to travel on the journey.