Samantha Henson: Church Visit #1

Church name: Wheaton Chinese Alliance Church

Church address: 1748 S Blanchard St, Wheaton, IL 60189

Date attended: September 28

Church category: Different ethnic demographic

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

The worship experience was surprisingly similar to the worship style that I grew up in, possibly because I went to the English speaking service rather than the Cantonese service. We all stood up in unison and sang worship songs that I recognized, and the worship band consisted of a guitar player, electric guitarist, drummer, and lead singer. There was also two screens and a projector that we looked at for lyrics rather than hymnal books, and no one was very charismatic in their worship style. For the church lesson, the pastor read from the projector and we went through chapters of Mark (I believe the series is looking at each chapter of Mark) and looked at each section to dissect of what the passage meant. Families mainly sat with each other except for Wheaton students and a few high school students, and the congregation was about two hundred people that service. 

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

What I found most intriguing about the worship service was not necessarily the worship service itself, but the community mingling and Sunday school service afterwards. When the service ended, the congregation offered coffee and tea that is popular in Chinese culture. A family came up to the group I went with and they were very warm and welcoming. After the mingling, we went to the optional Sunday school service and met together in small groups in a specific room for our age group. Surprisingly, most were not Wheaton students, but rather young married couples or singles in the area. We broke into our small groups, each focusing specific passages that tied to the overall theme of money. It seems that the church focuses much more on meeting communally in smaller groups, as small groups was heavily advertised in the service as well. Perhaps they focus more on having community with one another rather than other churches.

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

Although there were not many challenging aspects in my visit, I felt it was difficult for me to focus on the service from the slides on the projector and also in the way that it was structured. I have been going to an Anglican church for the past year and I have really appreciated having the theme and verses printed out in a booklet. WCAC did provide a program, but it mainly had information about upcoming events rather than an in-depth look at the service. As well, I felt that it was hard to read verses from Mark and try to understand them from a more literal, historical view rather than relate them back to themes or other passages in the Bible. It seemed that to understand the message you had to be attending the church for a few weeks, since it focused more on “Exploring Mark” rather than overall themes/concepts. 

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

As mentioned earlier, I truly enjoyed the emphasis of community that’s needed in the Body of Christ. Even those in the congregation seemed to hold such convictions, as no one during the service looked like they were sitting alone and multiple families introduced themselves to me before the service and after during the mingling. I believe they truly live out the message depicted in Hebrews 10: 24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Although most of the congregation came from Chinese descent, they welcomed me and others outside of the culture with open arms and encouraged us to come back anytime. The emphasis on community that WCAC exemplifies is one that I wish for many Evangelical churches today, since most today seem to focus on numbers rather than growing the church as a community.