Church Address: 76 S LaSalle St Aurora, IL 60505
Date Attended: 1 November 2015
Church Category: Lower Socioeconomic Demographic
Describe the worship service
you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
Community Christian Church had a somewhat familiar atmosphere to it when I visited. The musical worship was similar to what my own home church does, and even the message sounded like something I might hear there as well. The church had a "downtown" feel, even in how it was decorated. It seemed like two of the three main rooms had multiple functions. The congregation at the service I went to was very small, and did not even seem proportional to the size of the sanctuary. In addition to being a largely different socioeconomic demographic, this branch of Community also had a high percentage of Hispanic population in the congregation. The head pastor of this branch spoke in both English and Spanish, then proceeded to translate for the visiting pastor of another branch of Community when he gave the sermon. My own church back home had a Spanish-speaking branch, but this was a great new experience for me.
What did you find most
interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I very much enjoyed worshiping in Spanish as well as English. While the message was fairly simple, I appreciated it nonetheless. I also felt very welcomed. Not only was I greeted warmly when I arrived, but afterward, numerous people talked to me when they certainly did not have to. The pastor's wife went above and beyond, even giving me a Welcome gift bag. Even though this was a church I had never visited before, I felt at ease; not at all like I was in a new and unfamiliar place. Additionally, I have been to churches before that do not regularly include communion in their services, and while I cannot say for sure that this is a norm for Community's services, we did take communion together as a part of the service, and I greatly appreciated that. The pastor also had a clearly laid out message, which may have been on the simple side, but I appreciate that it was concise and uncomplicated.
What did you find most
disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
Well when I arrived at the service, I was slightly disoriented because I had gotten lost on the way. The location was slightly abstract. Also, as I was walking in, I was caught off guard because, while I was a few minutes late, there was almost no one in the decently sized sanctuary. After worship, when everyone was greeting each other, the woman in front of me shook my hand and welcomed me to the "contributor service." I had no idea what that meant, and I was worried that I was intruding on something I should not be there for. After the service, the same lady explained that it was a service anyone was welcome to attend, but it was more for those helping out with the main service at 11. I was at the 9:30 service, which was listed on the website as the English service, and I had chosen that because of the timing. I was caught off guard, though, because it was advertised as a regular service. The lady I was talking to then said that they were moving toward two services in the morning, but they had not officially started that yet.
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 pastor's message was on the importance and weight of Scripture. He made the point that when reading the Bible, it is easy to read your own agenda into it; or at least it is easy to get something out of it that pertains to your life but that the author of the Scripture did not intend to be understood. Yet, he also talked about the importance of understanding yourself to be a part of God's story, that is also illustrated in the Bible. We are also "characters" in God's story. He emphasized the importance of each individual's story also. His message was encouraging, and also pushed the listener towards desiring to be an active part of God's story and work.
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