Church name: Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church 

Church address: 277 Hawthorne Blvd, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

Date attended: 13 September 2015

Church category: Evangelical Covenant

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

Last week I attended Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church with a friend of mine that goes to Wheaton.  The worship style was very interesting at this church because it was a balanced combination of a more orthodox style mixed in with some contemporary songs.  There were a lot of hymns but there were also a lot of songs played by a band which gave it a good mix.  In addition, at the end of the service the whole congregation held hands and sang a song inspired by a psalm.  It was very interactive which I found very interesting and I was not used to it.  I liked the fact that there was a good mix of more orthodox hymns mixed with some contemporary music to appeal to all ages throughout the service.  I would say that this service was on the similar side to my regular service because there was a mixed style of worship.  The different portions were when there would be scripture readings and after each reading we would sing a portion of a song that would reflect on that scripture reading.  Other than that I thought that many of the songs played were very similar to my normal tradition.

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

I would say that one of the things that I found most interesting or appealing about the worship service was that everyone at the church felt very connected.  By that I mean that there were a lot of families and friends there that seemed like they had known each other for a long time.  This was similar to my church because it is on the smaller side and many of the people in the congregation know each other. In addition, I also liked the sermon which was on the fruits of the spirit.  The pastor emphasized seeing the Lord's blessings in our lives and also talked about setting goals in your life to become more like Christ.  This was especially impactful to me because I have felt that I need to set more goals in my life lately.  Another thing that I liked about the church was that they had a cool college ministry led by a youth pastor that attended Wheaton.  I talked to him after the service and he seemed like a very cool guy that could speak into my life as a college student.

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

One thing that I found disorienting or challenging about the service was how long it was.  I felt like the service lost my attention at times because it was very long.  I also didn't like how the service was split up into actual worship, the sermon, and and announcements.  I am used to the announcements at the beginning and worship at the beginning at end and this service was split up very oddly.  Another thing that I found challenging was that the pastor was not a very good public speaker which made it hard for me to pay attention.  I retained most of his main points but some of the minor stuff I did not retain.  I also thought that worship was a little bit dull and I wished that they had played a few more up beat songs.

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 was on the fruits of the spirit which hadn't been addressed for a while in my regular church.  One aspect of theology that the worship service illuminated for me was seeing the blessings of God in your and auditing yourself down the road in your life to see how much progress you had made spiritually and otherwise.  In addition, the pastor had many stories that gave me real life examples of the fruits of the spirit, which made the service more relatable to me.  I plan on keeping track of the progress I make in my life because I thought that this was a very good idea that the pastor presented.  One other thing that the worship service illuminated for me was that different types of worship can be very affective even if it something that I am not used to.  I think that visiting this church allowed me to realize that other traditions are very insightful and can add to my spiritual life.