1520 Avery Avenue, Wheaton, Illinois 60187
January 26, 2014
Different ethnic/racial demographic church
Describe the worship
service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your context?
The Second Baptist
Church dominantly consisted of African American people, with us being the only
Asian that visited the church. The worship service comprised of singing and
worshiping, greetings and announcements, younger children singing and dancing,
the sermon, and offering and benediction. The service was similar and different
in many ways. As of similarities, my church and SBC contained the obvious
praising God and listening to a sermon and greeting each other. However, there
were differences in the service as well. SBC included something called an
“altar call” and “bible trivia challenge”, which is something that is not done in
LWAC (my church). The method the service was carried out and the mood of the
service was different as well. The SBC members rose up often even though it was
not explicated said and was very vocal in expressing agreement. My church, on
the other hand, only rose when we worshiped or through the benediction and only
few said “amen” during pastor’s sermons.
What did you find
most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I found the ease of
worship to be most appealing about the service in Second Baptist. They did it
so naturally, joyfully, and freely that I was engaged right into worship. I
also noticed that a lot of things were done by the children and youth ministry,
such as offerings and choir, announcements, the passage, and performance. I
find that very engaging because I believe youth should take part in worship services.
The members were also very heartwarming in welcoming the newcomers. The service
also seemed much more passionate and expressive, as people cried out words to
praise God and thank Him. I thought it was very interesting that the band
(specifically the organ player) added sound effects whenever the minster said
something very significant in his sermon. I also thought it was interesting how
much bible references the minister had for his sermon.
What did you find
most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
It was definitely
challenging to be in a different ethnic and racial demographic church. I felt
like an oddball sticking out. It was also disorienting in that I did not know
when to stand up and when to sit down because the members did them as they seem
fit. One thing I especially found most discomforting was the Altar Call because
I have never seen it before or understand the significance of it but everyone
walked in front of the altar (the tables that looked like it was used for
communion) and the minister prayed with emotion. I also found it challenging
that the minister sang a long solo by himself before the sermon and then
preached with a booming voice that hurt my ears the whole time (not to mention
really fast too) and a different style of preaching than my pastor back in
LWAC.
What aspects of
Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had
not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
SBC gave me insight
of a whole new level of expression of our faith as Christians. In some
congregations, clapping or praising God during a sermon is unlikely and worship
is seen as reserved and serious. But the bursting energy to praise God with no
mind to others inspired me a lot because I find that so hard to do when I am around
other people. It helped me understand better of the aspects of worshiping God
that it is not limited to worshiping from the mind but is expressible through
the heart, body, and mouth. SBC truly showed me how God can move the hearts of
the members of the church in different ways. I also realize that even though different
racial and ethnic churches can express their worship differently, we are all
still worshiping the same God.
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