Leah Michelsen - Church Visit #1

Church name: St Joseph Orthodox Church

Church address: 412 Crescent St

Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: September 20, 2015

Church category: More liturgical

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

            The worship service I attended at St Joseph Orthodox was much more liturgical and traditional than Church of the Resurrection. When we walked in, the sanctuary was silent and the icons on the wall in front of us were quite prominent. We got there right on time for the service, but people were walking in for about 20 minutes while a lady up front chanted the Great Litany. During this time, a man up front lit many candles. We stood almost the entire service and chanted/sang a series of bible passages and hymns the whole way through. In one family, the two daughters and wife were wearing headscarves. There didn’t seem to be a separate room for children, or parents with children, because there were many of them and they were very loud. Sometimes they would run in the aisle and cry so much I couldn’t hear the rector. Nobody seemed to mind the distraction though. Afterwards, the rector asked if there were any anniversaries or birthdays in the audience and he said congratulations to each individual person.

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

            I thought it was interesting that there was no distinction between the different parts of the service. Instead of addressing the people like most church leaders do during services, he led by reading the content in the books we all had, and we joined in with him. The books did indicate each changing part of the service, but there weren’t any pauses to show it aurally. We went straight through the whole booklet singing, chanting and saying scripture. Since the book didn’t say when to stand up and sit down, we had to follow everyone else who seemed to know what they were doing. It’s neat that they go through the same liturgy that other orthodox churches use, so the services are mostly the same and you could attend a very similar service if you were traveling. I wanted to know if other people felt engaged by this type of service.

  

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

            I never felt like I was connecting with God. After saying a bunch of scripture with the same chant over and over, it just became a pattern of meaningless words. For me it was very unengaging and I had to keep reminding myself to pay attention and try to think or meditate on what we were saying. It seemed like because we were saying a lot of important scripture and hymns without any pause for interpretation or consideration, I wasn’t able to digest the material very well. Once I got used to the type of service and knew what to expect, I may be able to find it more engaging and meaningful, but at the moment it wasn’t ministering to me like I would have wanted. I left feeling unfulfilled and in need of a service at my home church.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

            It was neat to know that the service was set up to reflect the content and traditions of the early church. I was entering into the lives, in a way, of the early Christians and participating in their worship of God. Because there wasn’t much interpretation of the scripture we were reciting, it emphasized the actual scripture as the ministering agent, instead of the rector/pastor’s words. Although I didn’t really notice this and engage in it during the service, afterwards it was clear that this was a unique and special type of worship. Just meditating on the actual Word of God is enough to work in our hearts and change us. The sermon wasn’t a necessary part of the service. Now, I want to focus more on the scripture readings and liturgy at my church, instead of just getting through it so I can hear the bishop speak.