Church name: Lawndale Christian Community Church
Church address: 3827 w. Ogden Chicago
Date attended: October 5, 2014
Church category: different socio-economic and ethnicity
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
In a lot of ways LCCC was similar to what I have attended in the past, but it many ways it was quite different. I don't think I have ever been to a church where I was a racial minority. At the beginning, as I was waiting for the service to start, I felt kind of out of place being the only white person in the room. But then, a few people talked to me, and I got more comfortable. I have some familiarity with LCCC as I have worked a bit with Hope House before. As far as the worship went, it was not all the different. The order of events and what was included felt pretty natural to me. I think three main differences were: the way in which people affirmed Pastor Darryl as he spoke, the fact that no one mentioned anything about an offering and it wasn't publicly collected, and that it was said that if you had stuff going on in your life not to take communion. Otherwise, I have experienced people sharing prayers and praises and most other parts regularly.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
The service was more passionate and alive than what I am used to. People sang loudly and participated by choice, instead of needing encouragement by a worship leader to simply stand up. I also appreciated not being in a church with people just like me. It felt meaningful in different ways. I appreciated the conviction with which Pastor Darryl spoke. I was most touched when I went to receive communion. The line for bread I stood in was being served by a woman I met prior to the service. When I tore my piece off, she said "This is Christ's body broken for you, Kristen." I firstly was surprised she remembered my name, but more than that, I appreciated the personal touch it added to communion, and made me think about it in a new way.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
The sermon was grounded in the CCDA principles of relocation, reconciliation, and redistribution. I really appreciate this and think it is extremely valuable. When I get in a setting like that, I feel called in some ways to do this. However, for awhile now I have been thinking about how this applies to those who are on the other end of the spectrum... those who have wealth and power. What would it look like for me to move into an area like that with similar goals in mind? I'm still sorting this out for what it means for myself. In the sermon, I was reminded of these conflicting, but probably not actually conflicting, ideas in myself. I feel re-motivated to pray more about this and really search for what God wants me to do with my life in these areas. That is more about what I got out of the service though. Nothing specific to the set up or context was very challenging for me. I think because I have some experience in Hope House I kind of knew what to expect and it felt pretty normal.
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 sermon was about the death of John the Baptist as well as Jesus feeding the 5,000. There were a few things I perceived differently. Pastor Darryl referred to Jesus' ministry as a "theology of presence" which got my wheels turning about what I talked about in the above paragraph. Different points were emphasized in the feeding of the 5,000 story that I hadn't noticed or heard before:
-the people were hungry because they had financial problems
-Jesus listened to an individual (Andrew?) to meet a community need
-the food being passed out by the disciples was intentional as a way of Jesus building up leadership
Pastor Darryl also spoke about how God is preparing us by allowing us to go through difficult times. I think this was something I also needed to be reminded of today, as some aspects of my life have been quite challenging recently. That was helpful perspective.
All in all I really got a lot out of the service and will probably go back.
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