Abby Spencer - Church Visit #2

Church name: Lawndale Christian Community Church
Church address: 3827 W. Ogden  Chicago, Illinois 60623
Date visited: November 1, 2015
Church category: Lower socioeconomic demographic

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
The building itself where service happened was smaller, but it was almost completely full. Here in Wheaton in my regular church context, the members of my church are mostly white. But at Lawndale, the population was almost all black. Everyone seemed very welcoming and glad to have us there and they gave us pens and buttons. The worship style was a lot more familiar and contemporary and the songs were very familiar. 

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I thought it was interesting and appealing how Coach talked about changing ourselves and the ways that he specifically tailors it to his audience. He talked about themes that would work in any context, but he talked about them in a way that specifically applied to his audience. I liked the way that Coach really seemed to be engaged with the congregation. Before he started speaking, he went around and was talking to a lot of people that he seemed to actually know and have a relationship with and during the service he referenced his friends in the congregation and I liked how he seemed to really have a relationship with his congregation outside of just speaking from the pulpit and I liked that. I also found it appealing how much the congregation knew each other and talked to each other even during the service. There seemed to be a lot of movement during the service, giving people a chance to see their friends and talk to each other and this was appealing because it really made it feel like everyone knew each other and this was a community of believers. I thought it was interesting how there were different worship styles with everyone and that there wasn't just one right way to worship, but that everyone did it differently. I think sometimes at my regular church context I get the feeling that if you are not emotional enough or too emotional, you get judged maybe either way, or people think you are either faking it, or you must be a really good Christian. There were also a lot of really cute babies and little kids at the service so that was a good thing in my book.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
It was definitely a little disorienting to be in a church where I was one of the few white people. I definitely got the "intruder" feeling like people would look at me differently. I sort of felt like that through the whole service, but when I actually interacted with people there, they were very welcoming and eager to talk to us so I realized that those thoughts are all just in my head and are my own fears, not really based in any actual evidence. The sermon was very different than what I was sued to because it was so practical. There wasn't a huge emphasis on God until a bit later in the sermon, but this practicality I think it sometimes needed in churches. It isn't always helpful to hear that God loves us or that we need to forgive others when there is no practical way presented for us on how to do this. I also wonder if this kind of preaching style comes out of the demographic that he's preaching to. The people around me seemed to be very invested in the sermon and able to relate to it really well as I heard a lot of "Mm-hm"s and knowing laughter. So it seemed to go over well with his congregation.

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 think the service illuminated the idea of the whole church and the church as an actual community for me. It just seemed like everyone there was part of a family and were there because they wanted to be. Seeing people who knew each other reminded me how the church is supposed to be a community made up of individuals acting together in their different strengths to do God's work. I don't always see this in my regular church contexts and I think its important for Christians to remember what the Bible actually says about the church body. It also reminded me of the practicality of being a Christian. For some of the people at LCCC, they face real struggles with alcohol, drugs and violence and practicing your Christianity is everything. But in the Wheaton bubble, since we don't face those kinds of issues we think that if we read our Bible sometimes we're doing alright. But being a Christian is about doing as much as it's about believing.