Church Name: St. Patrick Parish (Spanish Service)
Church Address: 40 Cedar Street, St. Charles, IL
Date Attended: 11/01/2015
Church Category: Different Ethnic Demographic
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
Upon entering into this service, the drastically different church experience in comparison to my normal Sunday morning service was made evident. While walking in, the pews were packed with people of all ages. Lex and I were one of the few white people in the room. We turned several heads as we made our way down the aisle to find our seats. I wondered whether the quizzical looks from the members of the congregation were a result of me not being of Hispanic decent, or from me not being catholic. Regardless the reason, I was way beyond my comfort zone. The service was unlike my normal church experience in almost every way possible. The Catholic liturgies and order of the service were hard for me to understand in English, let alone in a language I do not speak. My experience at St. Patrick’s was far from my standard, yet I found enjoyment in my visit.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
To me, the most interesting part of the worship service was how seriously invested the congregation seemed to be into the church. Looking around, I did not see a single person texting on their phone or distracting themselves from the service in anyway. As it seemed, everyone paid close attention to what the priest had to say – something strikingly different from my usual Sunday experience. It isn’t uncommon to see people at my normal church looking as if they were dragged to church through peer pressure or obligation. Many people of all ages seem to constantly check their phones for new messages or emails. At St. Patrick’s however, I didn’t see this happen once. I also enjoyed seeing the diversity of ages among the congregation. Many more children than I anticipated were spread throughout the sanctuary. A happy mixture of young and old was present throughout the service.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
The hardest part about this worship service was the language barrier. At first, I thought the sermon delivered in Spanish was going to be manageable; the priest was using words I was familiar with and was speaking at an understandable rate. However, shortly after he finished reading from Psalms, I could hardly understand enough words to piece together the context of what he was preaching about. It was fairly easy to emulate the rest of the congregation in when to rise, when to kneel, etc., but to take home what was being preached was inevitably difficult. When it was time for the congregation to recite responsorial phrases, my non-Catholic and English background was starkly displayed to everyone sitting nearby. A combination of my inability to understand Spanish and my non-Catholic background made this worship service very challenging.
What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
As the ushers came through with long handled baskets, collecting tithes and offerings from the congregation, it became evident that I was one of the slim few who did not contribute to the basket. Interestingly, as I looked around, it seemed as though every single person in the room was placing some amount of money into the basket. Even the little children made sure to participate in offering. At my home church, passing the tithing basket by is not a big deal at all; in fact, many people often seem to do it. At St. Patrick’s, this was quite the opposite. To me, this illuminated the importance of giving back to God. Scripture tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. Particularly, the people of St. Patrick’s were indeed cheerful givers – even the young children. I would love to see my church imitate those at this church through their tithes and offerings.
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