Emma Sargent - Church Visit #1

Church Name: Lawndale Community Church

Date Attended: September 20, 2015

Church Category: Church of a significantly lower socioeconomic demographic

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

The worship service was highly interactive and lively. People trickled in at the beginning, during praise songs. The music was louder and of a different style than I was used to, but I recognized one of the songs. There was a short time of announcements, and I realized that the relaxed atmosphere and conversational style of the pastor was similar to that of my home church in rural Vermont. However, in general, there was more response from the congregation throughout the entire service than I was used to. After announcements, the choir sang. I am not used to choir-led worship, but it was beautiful, and people were praying and praising God through it. There was a scripture reading, and then special music shared as a sort of testimony. While this sort of thing is familiar to me, the style of the music and the sharing was unfamiliar. The sermon was longer than I am used to, but very engaging.

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

Overall, I appreciated that the atmosphere of the service felt natural and unaffected. People spoke what they felt, and the sermon was delivered clearly and supported by vivid examples. I was also struck by the aesthetics of the sanctuary. I have grown up in mainly traditional evangelical churches, and love the beauty of traditional church buildings; however, I think that the gym and the folding chairs represented a focus on God and practical service. I came away with the impression that this church was very deliberately not contained within the service and the building. The announcements all pertained to midweek gatherings and tangible ways to serve the community. I got the impression, even from a single service, that this was an active body of Christ, and I was just witnessing a small aspect of it.

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

I was a bit disoriented by the way people would respond in the congregation, by shouting out agreement and “Amens.” While I enjoyed this interactive type of worship, it did make me feel out of place and uncertain. Likewise, while I enjoyed the worship music, I had a hard time entering into praise when I did not know the music and was unfamiliar with the style of worship. Because I was uncertain of the “unspoken rules” of conduct, I was slightly self-conscious and felt like I must be noticeable as an “outsider.” This was also a racially diverse church, where the majority of people were African-Americans. As a Caucasian who has attended predominantly white churches, I felt somewhat conspicuous. So even as I enjoyed the service and felt that I was able to enter into worship, I was slightly on edge the whole time simply because I was out of place.

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 left the service thinking about the nature of the body of Christ in the world. As I mentioned above, I think that this church very deliberately emphasized the ministry of the church in the greater community. The pastor spoke about the need for Christians to commit themselves wholeheartedly to the gospel, to enter into transformation without holding anything back. This was, for me, a healthy reminder of the practical implications of Christianity. In my regular context, I can become caught in a spirituality of the mind, and forget about basic acts of service and outreach. Lawndale Community Church emphasized that they were concerned with the spiritual and physical needs of their community; everything about their worship service supported this. I was able to see the incarnational nature of Christianity in their authentic worship and practical concern for healthcare and teenage mothers. Words like “transformation” can so easily be tossed around in academic or “spiritual” discussions – however, I could see that Lawndale Community Church was concerned with the mess, discouragement, and faithfulness that makes up everyday transformation.