Abbie Holaway - Church Visit #3

Church Name: St. Michael Catholic Church
Church Address: 310 S Wheaton Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187
Date Attended: November 3rd, 2015
Church Category: More Liturgical

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
I attended an 8:00 am mass service this morning at St. Mike's near downtown Wheaton. This church is five minutes away from the house that I grew up in, but today was the first time that I had actually stepped inside the catholic church. I thought it was interesting that the church held mass every day, usually twice a day, and the service itself was very different from my home church. The catholic service felt more ritualistic. Before sitting down, each catholic person knelt and made the sign of the cross. The priest's message was also much shorter than what I am used to.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I liked how they did not have just one time set aside for worship. Instead, songs were dispersed throughout the service. Also, the style of the music was more traditional like my home church, which was comforting to me. The rituals of the mass like kneeling at certain points and repeating liturgy helped to remind me that we can worship God in more ways than just singing.

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
At some points during the mass, it was hard to follow along with the liturgy. I often did not transition from kneeling, praying, or standing as well as the people there who were actually catholic. I felt a little clumsy at times during the service. Also, the church that I grew up attending puts a strong emphasize on preaching, so it was challenging to feel like I learned something or benefited much from the priest's message, since it was much shorter than I am used to.

What aspects of scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
The deeply traditional aspects of the services reminded me of the history of christianity and the significance that tradition has in my spiritual walk, today. In some ways, worship can be more meaningful when it is based on traditional hymns and liturgy, because we can connect and relate to the christians who walked before us who had similar struggles and suffered similar hardships. I enjoyed going to a catholic mass, mostly, because it reminded me that catholicism has such a rich history.