Karis Barker-Church visit #1

Church name: Iglesia Cristiana Community Christian Church
Church address: 76 S. LaSalle Street Aurora, IL 60505
Date attended: 9/6/15
Church category: Nondenominational, significantly lower socioeconomic demographic, and primarily Latino-American congregation

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
The service was very similar to my regular context in terms of length and structure: 3 songs, announcements, a brief time for greeting people sitting nearby, the message, communion, tithing time, and wrap up with a prayer or benediction. That said, there were several differences that I noticed. One of the most obvious differences was the size of the congregation. I am used to a service with around 500 people and this church had maybe 25. The bilingual English/Spanish emphasis and primarily Latino audience of the service was also a key difference. Although not necessarily an aspect of the the service itself, I noticed quickly the lack of air-conditioning that normally welcomes me as I enter my home church during the hot, summer months. Whether by cultural preference or financial prudence or both, this church was not freezing cold. Financial prudence was also reflected in the building and interior design of the church.  

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
Most of the things that were different between my usual experience and this new experience are the things that interested and appealed to me. I like the idea of a smaller congregation because it tends feel more intimate and more authentic–not that large congregations can't achieve intimacy and authenticity but I think smaller congregations can more easily facilitate that kind of atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, lack of air conditioning made me feel like I was in a different country. I think the United States boasts the most liberal usage of air conditioning of all the countries in the world. Any way, the temperature and singing/listening in Spanish and English brought me back to my church experiences in Costa Rica and Nicaragua this past summer. The humility of the church building itself was a refreshing reminder that the church is a people, not a just a physical structure. 

The aspect of the service that I think I most appreciated at this church was the transparency about church struggles. The pastor talked about how the children's ministry director and worship leader had left the church to do mission work in Mexico and that he had to improvise until he could find replacements and as consequence, certain plans for the church would have to be postponed. He then invited the congregation to get involved in the church's ministries if they felt so called. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
I don't know if this was coincidence or not but I noticed that the Latinos and Caucasians attending the service generally sat on different sides of the sanctuary space. Also, there were two very vocal babies that babbled throughout the service which was kind of distracting. This is very trivial but singing worship songs that I am not used to singing was a bit of a challenge as well. 

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context? 
My biggest takeaway from the message was that prayer is about changing myself as much as it is about changing the situations that I pray for. The pastor referenced Luke 11:5-13 with the persistent friend who finally got his request granted because he wouldn't give up. The pastor made it clear that if something is worth praying for, we should pray for it many times. He used the personal example of his father who finally found Christ after his wife prayed for his salvation for 25 years; that is definitely a persistent prayer.