Theodora Beschel - Church Visit #3

Church name: Casa de Luz-- Willow Creek Community Church
Church address: 67 E. Algonquin Rd, South Barrington, IL 60010
Date attended:11/01/2015
Church Category: Different culture

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

The most prominent difference between the service I attended and that of my regular church was that the service was in Spanish. I am currently a Spanish major and can speak and understand Spanish competently, so I was able to understand the majority of the service, however simply worshiping in a different language was a unique experience. Another difference between the service I attended and my regular service was the feel of the church in general, Casa de Luz is a branch of Willow Creek, a mega church. Although Casa de Luz is an offshoot, it still felt much larger and much less intimate than the church I currently attend. The people I met were still incredibly friendly and welcoming, yet I felt much more detached from the service than I do in my church service of about 150. Another difficulty I encountered socially was an awkward question as to whether the church attenders should speak to me in English or Spanish. From what I derived, most of the congregation was upper, middle class, therefore most of their English was far better than my Spanish. Therefore an interesting dynamic arose where I was actively trying to engage in a different culture, yet it was easier for them to adapt to me rather than me try to immerse with them.

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

As I touched on previously, simply the act of worshiping in a different language was incredibly powerful for me. Many of the songs we sung were originally written in English then translated into Spanish, so I knew the English translations of most the songs. Not only were most of the songs originally written in English, but many of them were very popular worship songs, songs I had heard dozens of times before. Yet even with my familiarity with the songs and knowledge of their translations, hearing the words in a different language gave new depth and insight into the meanings of the songs. There would be, for example, words that bore multiple meanings in Spanish which did not carry the same expanse of meanings in English. When the word with a singular meaning in English was translated to a word with multiple meanings in Spanish, the strength and power of the statement immediately widens. This brought new meaning to songs and phrases which I had heard many times, yet found new life in when translated in to Spanish.

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

Two things were very difficult about the service for me. First, the mental effort to translate and understand Spanish for an hour and a half and secondly the length of the service. Firstly, although worshiping in a new language was profound and beautiful, it also demanded a lot of mental exertion. As I stated before, I am by no means fluent, and therefore it takes extra effort for me to listen to and translate from Spanish into English. Especially during the sermon where the words were not projected upon a screen, I found myself becoming mentally exhausted and zoning out. Although I know the series was on Nehemiah, I would be hard pressed to come up with more nuanced sermon points. The second thing that was difficult about the service was the length. The sermon itself lasted for about an hour and as I stated before, it became very difficult for me to be engaged and understand what exactly was happening.


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 foremost aspect of theology which was emphasized to me in the service was how Christ and God are not bound to culture, specifically Westen culture. Simply put, I loved remembering that God is not a white God. When I am at Wheaton, almost all perspectives and commentary I hear about God, Christ and the Spirit are coming from American, Caucasian backgrounds. Most students I speak with are white, most professors, most chapel speakers, most discipling books, most of my home church, most of the surrounding area are all white or from white sources. A vast, vast majority of my spiritual development comes from "white" sources. Although I know white, Western, Caucasians do not have a monopoly, or even a majority, on understanding the character of God, it does my soul good to be reminded of it through example once again. By seeing those of a different culture worship and teach me about the Lord, I was able to lower my view of Western theology into its proper place, not a place of worthlessness or even minimized value, but one without supremacy or superiority.