Church name: Saint Sabina Church
Church address: 1210 W 78th Pl, Chicago, IL 60620
Date attended: October 12, 2014
Church category: different racial demographic
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
St. Sabina was very different than anything I have ever attended before. I have some experience with Catholic churches, but the charismatic side was pretty new for me. The basic "loose" structure was somewhat recognizable, but there also were a lot of rabbit trails/rants that were unexpected. For being a Catholic church (which means they hold tradition very highly), they explored a lot of things that were quite untraditional. As a Protestant this does not really bother me, but I'm not sure why they call themselves a Catholic church if they are going to stray so far from the tradition. There was dancing, yelling, politics, a lot of encouraged participation, and it was also 2.5 hours long. At some point a plush Simba in a cage made an appearance (and was left on Eucharist table) as well. My Catholic friend who attended the service with me agreed that it was hardly recognizable as a mass. However, they did have a bit of liturgy and the Eucharist.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I appreciated the liveliness of the congregation and they were also extremely welcoming. Almost everyone I met gave me a hug, and I appreciated their genuineness. I also agreed with a lot of the things Pastor (Father?) Phleger said, I was just unsure that it was the right context to be saying them in. He talked a lot about the oppression that African Americans and other groups have faced due to power structures such as the government. In some ways I appreciated that politics were being discussed in the church, as I think we should be able to have respectful conversations about hard issues in church. A lot of other churches I have been in shy away from these sort of topics, though. Also, we ended with a very beautiful version of Holy, Holy, Holy that I very much enjoyed.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
I was challenged by much of the service. I felt like Pastor Phleger was doing a lot of what he was doing simply to get a reaction. The way he walked around, almost waiting for the congregation to respond was unsettling to me, especially because he did not have the same spirit of joy that many of the people around me did. While I appreciated some of the things he was saying, he called a lot of specific people out and made a lot of strong dividing lines. I realize this is sometimes necessary, and in the specific context it is important to validate the communities frustrations, however I felt like his approach was not coming out of a place of love. The whole worship service felt more like a pep rally than a service. I also do not like when I am told how to worship (shake your hand, say "_______", etc...), and this happened a lot.
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 way Scripture was read, somewhat dramatically, made it feel more important and meaningful. I paid much more attention to it. However, we barely even discussed the Scripture for the day. The whole service made me think really hard, mostly because it was so different than anything I have ever really experienced. I did not walk away feeling like I had really worshipped or anything though. The Homily was about some really important topics that I thought about differently because of the context in which I was, but like I said, they were not necessarily Scriptural or theological. Honestly, I do not know what to make of the whole experience. The whole time I had mixed feelings.
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