Christine Navin - Church visit #2

Church name: The Faith Community of St. Sabina

Church address: 1210 W 78th Place Chicago, IL 60620

Date attended: September 21st

Church category: Different Socioeconomic Demographic

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

The mennonite church is fairly different from the catholic church in general. My church is also not a black church and does not have an especially charismatic pastor. However, this church wasn’t as structured as catholic churches generally are, and so perhaps in this way it was more like my own church. While there was variety in the dress of the attendees, many of them were dressed exceptional well, far better than my home church or even Uptown Baptist. This left me really unsure of where the members would fit on a socioeconomic scale. I understand that some cultures really stress dressing up for church, but with this being such a unique church, I also wondered if people perhaps commuted into the church. It should also be noted that according to a ‘hardship index’ released by the ‘City of Chicago’ website and based on census data, Uptown is placed at 20 and Auburn Gresham, home to St. Sabina, is at 74. Perhaps the quality of ‘sunday best’ is related more to denomination.

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

I really did appreciate how active this church is, though I have no idea how effective they are. One thing that really stood out to me was that the worship truly seemed like a celebratory in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced before. They had a dance team helping to lead worship with the musical-worship team and it was beautiful. I also appreciated the enthusiasm with which Rev. Pfleger preached. I loved the beauty of the building, and though I appreciated the black depiction of Christ and the emphasis on the power of the name of Jesus shown in a neon sign, they did not fit aesthetically with the church building at all.

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

The volume of the service was very distracting. If I attended St. Sabina’s regularly, I would wear earbuds. Catholic and high church services are often a bit disorienting to me, I never know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. This is less so since attending Wheaton, but it’s still fairly foreign. St. Sabina had some of these elements, but was actually less structured that Catholic churches are in general, and perhaps less than they are supposed to be.

There was also a very brief point in Rev. Pfleger’s sermon that left me very confused. His sermon was centered around Chicago and the conflicts in the middle east. He made a comment about how Christians don’t need to fear Muslims or Allah, and Muslims don’t need to fear Christians or Jesus, for it’s just Allah and it’s just Jesus. His theology might be okay, but after talking with Hayley afterwards, she too felt that he made it sound like Jesus isn’t the one true way. So, this was a very disorienting moment, but he moved on from it quickly. In the moment, I reassured myself that the catholic church wouldn’t allow him to stay if his sermons included heresies. I still am really interested to know what he’s full intentions were with that statement.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

His sermon was based on John 20:19, in which the disciples are described as hiding due to fear of crucifixion. He preached about how Christians shouldn’t be afraid and acting out of fear, but to act out of the courage of their beliefs and the power of the Holy Spirit. I thought this message worked really well in their context. He owned their place as part of God’s creation and kingdom; “this is God’s neighborhood,” he said. He encouraged his congregation to be a light in the darkness. I’m certain I’ve heard messages with similar themes before, but in this context, it held more meaning.

He also referenced problems in Chicago, Ferguson, the Middle East, and around the world, and said that we are to care about all of these issues. As the members of one family of God from Adam, “it’s all our problem.” While, I don’t think my church would say otherwise, it’s never been stated with such urgency. We might pray for some of these issues, but we would do little to actually change them. The mennonites, including my home church, are wonderful at providing “disaster services”. The mennonites in general do great work towards peacebuilding, but I’m not aware of my church ever working truly working towards peace in lasting, personal, hands-on way. St. Sabina at least addresses these problems, cares for victims, and is trying to take steps to fix our broken system.