Christine Chen: Church visit #2

Church name: St. John Lutheran Church

Church address: 410 N. Cross St. Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: 02/16/2014

Church category: More liturgical

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

St. John Lutheran utilizes a very traditional Lutheran liturgy that is similar to the Catholic Mass, which includes Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, along with many other components. The service began with the procession of the Cross, for which the congregation stood up and some bowed reverently toward the Cross as it moved up the altar. Confession followed as the congregation knelt down to recite the liturgical prayer to confess sins. There were then various hymns, Scripture readings, the recitation of the Nicene Creed, the sermon (only about 10 minutes long) and prayers leading up to the Communion, which we did not partake out of respect. The service ended with the benediction and recessional hymn as the Cross was removed from the altar.

The liturgical structure of the service is very different from my Baptist church, which do not use liturgy and have all the instructions on how to participate in worship written down. The Lutheran service was extremely organized and structured that allowed for very little spontaneity, while my Baptist church provided no such programs that allowed the congregations to know what they’re about to sing beforehand. There are also elements such as confessions, reciting the Nicene Creed, and Communion every Sunday that were not present in my church.

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

I absolutely loved singing the hymns throughout the entire service. Despite the fact that I did not know any of them, most of them were in the same key and were very easy to sight sing due to my Conservatory training. I also loved the corporate worship element of the service, in which all believers sing, recite, and pray as one (especially when confessing sings) and not just individually. The program of the liturgy provided very clear instructions on when to stand, sit, and kneel, and helped you to know exactly what to expect. Although I am used to longer sermons, I appreciated the short sermon (on the topic of Jesus reinterpreting the Old Testament laws) which was very concise, straight-to-the-point, yet theologically rich. The reverence and devotion to God was very apparent.

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

While I appreciate the fact that Lutherans believe that the children should worship with adults, the constant noise they made was very distracting, especially during the sermon. I had no idea of what incense smelled like, so when incense was burned prior to the Communion, I was very overwhelmed by the strong smell despite sitting towards the back. I also had some trouble judging whether or not we should take Communion, because I believe that all believers should take part but did not want to offend their church traditions as they indicated that guests should meet with a pastor prior to taking Communion. Lastly, and this is only a small annoyance, but I’m used to have lyrics conveniently projected on a screen, so constantly flipping pages in a hymnal was somewhat challenging.

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 I mentioned before, one of the things I liked about St. John is that they emphasize the corporate aspect of worship. I feel that many evangelical churches have made worship to an individual activity even in a corporate setting. Many of the basic movements, such as standing, sitting, kneeling (if it ever occurs), were only done when you feel like it. Although some might argue that the Lutheran liturgy is too stringent and uptight by having every do the same thing whether they like it or not, I would like to argue that it is precisely its purpose to unite the congregation. The practice of corporately and publicly confessing our sins (even though they may not be specific, individual sins) is one that I think should be done more in evangelical churches. It is important for us to remember that even as we worship, we come before God as imperfect human beings in need of God’s mercy.