Caroline Saylor - Church Visit #3

Church Name: Lawndale Christian Community Church

Church Address: 3827 W Ogden, Chicago, IL 60623

Date Attended: November 1st 2015

Church Category: Lower Socioeconomic Church

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

I left with the lasting impression that the church service I attended was filled with caring and God-loving people. There were general similarities that I connected my home church to, such as the structure of the service and singing some of my favorite worship songs. I also found comparison in the manner in which the pastor took scripture and generated a thoughtful and insightful interpretation for the modern Christian living in today’s society. The major difference I noticed was within the manner of how the congregation interacted throughout the service. Especially during the sermon I noticed how many of the people would vocalize either their support of the statement or their opinion on what was being said. There were times in which a person from the congregation would suddenly become the focal point of the story being told by the pastor. There was a man who become concerned that the Facebook example the pastor was explaining was about him and voiced his concern. Although I had to adjust to this style, it affirmed the strong community that the church embodies.  

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

I found myself gaining a deep appreciation for the pure form of loving God that this church represented. I initially noticed this during the time of musical worship. Each choir member and church member for that matter seemed to be teeming with passion and enjoyment as they sang to their Lord. I also witnessed this adoration towards Christ in the way that they embodied a strong community. Every person I met was extremely friendly and even by observing the congregation each person went out of their way to welcome their siblings in Christ. I was even stopped as I left the service by two different men that were self-acclaimed as the exiting committee. Each time they thanked me for coming and offered a warm welcome. Too often can Church become either a social event or somber religious practice without touching on the reality that it should be an integration of both. This church was able to express their somber respect for the love of Christ through living it.      

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

There was one moment in particular that I found to be very difficult to affirm. The sermon was on relationships, as expressed through Adam and Eve. The scripture was from Genesis and the pastor explored the realities of living in relationships, whether healthy or toxic. In an attempt to provide examples of the different relationships we experience, the pastor included the term “side-chick” as an instance of relation we might find ourselves to be in. While knowing both the definition and connotations of this term, I felt extremely uncomfortable with using it in the context of a church service. Although arguably it could be portrayed as an effort to integrate current culture I still do not believe it should be condoned within the church, especially coming from a pastor. Although the pastor might have not explicitly stated his opinion on the term, the fact that it was included in the list of examples made it seem as though it was generally accepted as a legitimate relationship—which is something I’m not comfortable with discussing in church.