Church Name: Wheaton Chinese Alliance Church (WCAC)
Church Address: 1748 S Blanchard St, Wheaton IL. 60189
Date Attended: September 20th 2015
Church Category: Difference Ethnic/Racial Demographic
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
Besides the more dominant difference of the service being spoken in a different language, there were certain aspects of this worship service that I had also never experienced before. The structure of the service seemed to follow the standard traditions of most worship settings. We sang hymns, read Scripture, listened to a sermon, and concluded with prayer and a benediction. Although this was similar to the church I usually attended, there were slight variations in tradition that I found interesting. For instance, we sang the hymn “I’m so Happy”—however after we sang through it once, we stopped reflected on the words and then sang it three more times each with different parts of the room singing at one time. The men would sing half the verse and then the women would finish and then we switched. In total we sang the hymn about five times. Another difference was having a powerpoint slide accompany the sermon. It helped outline the points of the sermon along with funny little comics to illustrate the lessons. I had never experienced a powerpoint with comics within a sermon. Many churches, including the one I grew up going to, conclude their Sunday services with a time of fellowship. Same was true with WCAC, however being a visitor they welcomed me a little extra. After the service they asked if they could take a picture of me for their visitor records and gave me a present. I had never experienced such open arms welcoming me into a new church.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I appreciated the strength of the community in the Church and especially how it carried over into the worship service as well. The announcements were held at the end of the sermon and included the prayer requests of the congregation. Following the requests, people from the congregation would stand and give updates on previous prayer requests. The service I attended ended with the celebration of a women in the congregation that just defeated her battle with cancer. The church I grew up going to would often recognize the development of past prayer requests, but it always seemed to take place in a guest speaker setting. They would pick one person to share their story for a designated fifteen minutes. Having people stand up in the crowd and share their story in a much less formal setting made it seem more authentic. Something that I found very interesting about the Church was that their preacher communicated his sermon through Skype. There wasn’t a formal speaker but instead a big screen with the speaker speaking from elsewhere. I understood that as major dedication this church had to their pastor. I had never seen anything like it but deeply appreciated the lengths they had to accommodate to meet every Sunday to worship together.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
Although this church offered English speaking services, I challenged myself with attending the Cantonese speaking service. Not a single word was spoken in English so I entered this experience with a lot of nerves. I mostly feared being disrespectful and not being able to communicate with those around me. All of the programs, hymns and sermon notes were in Cantonese characters which also made the entire experience disorienting. However, what I think was most challenging was the using the headset for the translator. I was already nervous about standing out by not singing or reading along with the Scripture, so putting on huge black headphones felt like I was placing a neon sign over my head recognizing that I was misplaced. Although I was extremely thankful for the translator (I would of not been able to get anything from the sermon without it) I still struggled trying to follow along two languages going at once.
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 sermon I attended was speaking on the fruit of the Sprit according to Galatians 5:22-23. That particular Sunday the focus of the sermon was on Love, one of the first fruits of the Sprit. The preacher explored the implications that coexist with Christian love and finished the sermon with a practical application that we, as Christians, can carry out to embody Scriptural love. The topic of Christian love was anything but foreign to me, seeing as it is a foundational concept when living out a life seeking Christ. However, considering the topic within the context of a completely different cultural church broadened my view of what it means to love one another. What stuck out to me the most during and especially after the service was how welcoming the congregation was towards me. The entire Church service was in Cantonese, however every usher continually would walk up to my seat and hand me translators and translated Hymnals and English handouts. I felt so cared for and loved even as this stranger that was obviously different. At the end of the Sermon they made an announcement of their newest guest “Caroline Saylor” and made me stand up to wave at everyone. After the service almost every person in the room made their way over to shake my hand and personally welcome me. I stood in awe at this visceral example of what it means to love one another. I came into this experience extremely nervous that I would step on toes and feel extremely out of place, yet I left feeling overwhelmingly loved.
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