Church name: Quinn
Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Church address:
2401 South Wabash Ave.
Date attended: October
12, 2014
Church category:
AME church
Describe the
worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your
regular context?
Attending an African American church for the first time, I
found number of differences from my regular context. One of the main
differences I found powerful was the church’s emphasis on worship through
music. The gospel choir, also referred to as “the voice of Quinn,” started the
service with about 30 minutes of worship through singing and dancing while the
members of the church gathered one by one. Though the service started at 10 am,
the members all seemed aware that the actual service starts at 10:30. In
continuing the worship through the Gospel music, the guest preacher opened up his
sermon also by him singing. The choir, the bass, drums, and the worship leader
on the keyboard all remained on the stage throughout the service, interacting
with the preacher in responses at times. The keyboardist played chords that were
fitting to the preacher’s message, assisting to highlight parts of the sermon.
(word count: 152)
What did you find
most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I was aware going into the service that Quinn Chapel is
the very first African American church in Chicago and has hosted significant
voices, such as MLK and Obama, over its rich history. I looked forward to going
inside the historic sanctuary, though I found out that the congregation has
been meeting in a room on the side of the main chapel over the years while it is under a slow construction for restoration. However, I easily noticed the
church’s sense of pride and its continual effort to be involved with racial
reconciliation and policies within the local communities. The announcement
about the upcoming elections was mentioned couple of times during the service,
asking the members to vote to make sure the funding for the local 14 public
schools’ baseball teams can be kept. The guest preacher also mentioned how the
church served as a station for the Underground Railroad, yet that “we have a long
way to go.” I was immensely encouraged to experience Quinn Chapel’s humble pride
in their hospitality and posture of perseverance. (176)
What did you find
most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
As a foreign-born Asian
American who spent much time growing up in a missionary center, the church’s commitment
to local ministries and emphasis on America’s politics challenged me to think
about a church’s balance in world missions and local involvement. I have
noticed before that there are churches that make efforts for international
ministries and funding for missionaries yet often miss on serving the
local communities. Quinn Chapel gave me a context for a church that exercises ministries
in an opposite way by solely focusing on the local culture and praying specifically for the country that it is
part of. (100)
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 guest preacher (Reverend Anderson Jackson)’s message and
his testimony spoke strongly to me on how God always remains the same to those
who call upon Him. Reverend Jackson started his sermon by sharing how he
committed to serve God on a ship that was caught in the storm in 1946 by crying out to God in amidst the chaos of the war and the storm. During the sermon he listed the names
of Jehovah (ex. Jehovah of Shalom) we can call upon Him and also the names of
prophets who God remained faithful to in the Scripture. Then he encouraged the
church by stating, “Call Him up. He won’t put you on hold,” along with reading
parts of Romans to illuminate on salvation, God’s everlasting power and His faithfulness.
The sermon ended as the choir joined in singing “Jesus, I Love Calling Your
Name,” after he sang a part of a song that ended with “in the storm.” Powerful,
was an understatement. (163)
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