Noah Anthony - Church Visit #2

Wheaton Bible Church - Iglesia Del Pueblo
27W500 North Avenue, West Chicago, IL 60185
Date Attended: 10/25/15
Different ethnic or racial demographic

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
This service was quite a bit different from my regular context. The main difference was the service was in a different language. Fortunately, since it was missionary weekend they did the service in both Spanish and English which was helpful. Not only was the service in a different language but the structure of it was much different as well. The worship was a lot longer than it is at my church. A typical service at my church has two to three songs before the sermon along with a closing song following the sermon. It is very straight forward and does not change except for the songs. In this service, the worship music was about 45 minutes long prior to the sermon along with more worship following. This was a nice change of pace from my usual context.

What did you find the most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
What I found most appealing was the music and worship. I really enjoyed singing songs in two languages. It was an awesome experience worshiping in a different language. I liked singing the song in Spanish and then singing the same song in English following it. It was cool to hear the worship songs in two different languages when ultimately they have the exact same meaning. I also liked how much more relaxed it was compared to my regular context. They sang some verses and choruses over and over again which does not happen much at my church. There was a lot less structure and it made the worship feel very open and free. I really liked how they intertwined prayer in between the songs as well. It was very natural and uplifting. The music at this service was a lot less fixed and I personally liked it that way.

What did you find the most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
The most challenging part was that the service was in two languages. The service is usually spoken in Spanish the whole time. Since it was missionary weekend, they did speak in both Spanish and English which was helpful yet challenging at the same time. Whenever there was Spanish I did not understand, I was able to understand it more clearly when the pastor spoke in English. However, it was challenging because the pastor had to provide his points in both languages. This did make the sermon a little bit choppy and hard to follow at times. This is also partially due to my Spanish being a bit out of date.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
My regular context of church has a lot of people who have similar backgrounds to me. Most people are born and raised in the United States and speak English. The sermon was on the topic of immigration which was fitting because the people at this service were from all over with many different backgrounds. What the service illuminated for me that we all have different backgrounds and stories but we all share one common thing, our faith. That is what makes up the community of the church, no matter what country we are from or what language we speak, we all are part of the church and share the same faith. I really enjoyed experiencing a service that showed the community of the church even when language is not a common theme.