Shyanne Bennett- Church Blog 2

Church Name: St. Paul Coptic Orthodox Missionary Church

Church Address: 2618 N Talman Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Date Attended: 10/5/14

Church Category: Ethnic

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

            I attended a Coptic Church, which is Egyptian Orthodox. The vast majority of attendees were either Egyptian or Egyptian American. This is in stark contrast to the African-American church I grew up in. When I came into the service there was a baptism taking place. It was for a baby. The rest of the service centered on the Eucharist. Throughout the service the bread and wine that was on the altar was blessed. Incense was burned and liturgy was spoken. The congregation mainly participated in the service by standing up or sitting down at the appropriate times. Most people didn’t even read the liturgy aloud, that seemed to be the role of the twelve the bishops and the priest. This service couldn’t be more different from the church I grew up in, where there was minimal liturgy, charismatic praise and worship, plenty of call and response ,and an energetic sermon at the end.

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

            I was surprised by how much I enjoyed taking communion at St. Paul. The entire service was centered on the Eucharist whereas in evangelical churches the service builds up to the sermon.  Throughout the service the bread and wine was blessed. In the last portion of the service we took communion. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could take communion since I am not a Coptic Christian, but the women next to me said I could as she handed me a white scarf to place over my head.  Barefoot, we approached the altar and let the priest feed us a piece of bread. As we turned away and chewed we held a white cloth up to our lips. I’m not sure what was the significance of the cloth, but it helped me to remember the importance of the sacrament as I chewed. We went back to our seats, more liturgy was read, and then got up to take the wine. This time as we went up a woman sang. It was the only time a woman’s voice was part of the worship service. It was such a beautiful experience taking communion at St. Paul, because even though I am not Egyptian or Coptic it reminded me that the blood of Christ has united us. They are all my brothers and sisters in Christ.

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

            Though this is fairly insignificant, I was disoriented by the heavy use of incense. At one point I felt like I could’ve gone into a coughing fit. It was so disorienting that I cannot remember what was the significance of the incense. I think they said something about it representing intercessions and casting out evil Spirits. However, I am not sure. Something that was more challenging for me was accepting the limited, almost non-existent role women played in the service. Only the priest and his twelve Bishops spoke throughout the service.  The Bishops ranged in age from young boys to middle-aged men. There were absolutely no women among them. The men had memorized some parts of the liturgy. This is good for them, but it seems sad that the women will not have the opportunity to be involved in the service to that capacity.

4. What aspects of scripture and theology did the worship service illuminate for you?

            First, I realized how much reverence taking communion demands. It is a holy sacrament. It is so important that Jesus himself instituted it.  In communion we are reminded of the price Christ paid to cover our sins, the unity we now have in Him, and the promise of his coming. It’s a ritual that demands that we reflect, repent, hope, and praise. It is central to our faith. I understand more why the Coptic Church would have the Eucharist as the center of their service. Second, the first passage of Scripture read during the service was 2 Cor. 1:1-14. It was about the afflictions and suffering Christians had suffered and how God will comfort them. Though it was not talked about explicitly, it was interesting reading those versus in the Coptic church since it has such a long history of persecution in Egypt. It is because of the persecution St. Paul exists in America. Third, it was interesting to see how much of the liturgy and the sermon explicitly referenced early Christian Fathers. It helped me to see how their thoughts and foundational philosophies still have a lot of relevance to my faith now.