Eva Mendez - Church visit #2

Church name: Dupage African Methodist Episcopal Church
Church address: 4300 Yackley Ave, Lisle, IL
Date Attended: 03/16/2014
Church Category: AME

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

The worship service was different from my regular church in several ways. The worship was organized, but not completely structured. This was seen when  the songs would continue for a long time (a member even told me the service went much later than what they expected), and there were some aspects of the service that were not organized at all. The attendees and members of the church were, for the majority, African American. They came from mostly Middle to Upper class, I assumed based on the attires of the attendees. The services were similar in the way that the bulletin showed the order of the service, and the processional

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

Personally, I loved the community of this church. The audience was fully participating in every aspect of the service. The singing and the dancing was great, but even in the sermon, the feedback was amazing. I really enjoyed the choir that sang, and how the community joined in. The church is very community oriented and at one point we even held hands as we continued singing. I thought that was a wonderful experience, and even though I had never been to the church before, I felt very welcomed. Even as I walked away from the service, members greeted me and walked alongside me. I honestly had not felt that welcome to a new church in a while. I definitely recommend people who enjoy vigorous singing, and more response oriented worship.

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

The hardest part to get used to was all the feedback during the sermon. I loved it at first, and I think it is a great thing that the audience can encourage the preacher, but when it continued on and on, I was really shocked by how often they gave feedback. Every sentence the preacher said was met by several expressions from the crowd. I became pretty used to it, after some 15 minutes, but I guess it almost took away from the power of the preachers words as he actually tried to emphasize a point. Instead, every one of his sentences was emphasized.

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

I really was impacted by the sharing in the experience. I felt that many of the churches I have attended regularly tend to emphasize the individual response to the message, and everything else for that matter. It was wonderful to see a church united when singing and raising their voices in praise and affirmation. I thought that although it may have seemed excessive at some points, the worship service did bring the community aspect to the forefront. And I have to say, those church goers really do love being in church, with all the laughter and singing and wonderfulness. I felt very included in this particular church, even though I was not of the same ethnicity. I am very glad I got a glimpse of what heaven could be like.