Mark Hansford - Church Visit #2

Church name: Assumption Greek Orthodox Church

Church address: 601 S. Central Avenue, Chicago, IL

Date attended: 03.23.14

Church category: Greek Orthodox

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

What an experience. This was definitely far different than anything else that I have ever attended. I honestly felt like I was worshipping on a different continent. As I have been going to an Episcopalian Church this year (St. Barnabas in Glen Ellyn), I was a little prepared for the service (or at least more than your average protestant), but I was could not have predicted how the service was going to be. For starters, it was over three hours long and the large majority of the service was in Greek. That was not helpful for me, but it seemed that everyone else there (all Greek) understood what was going on. Apparently the service is nearly identical every week. I did not even begin to understand all of the different customs that went on during the service. The taking of the Eucharist was pretty similar to how we take it at my Episcopalian Church, but there was a lot of chanting that I did not understand. I have to say that the language barrier was a big hinderance to me. 

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

The most appealing thing to me was how community oriented the church was. It was obvious that everyone in the surrounding community (who was Greek) came to the church every sunday. Despite there being several hundred people, it felt like everyone knew everybody and saw them regularly outside of church. After the service, there was a big lunch that everyone attended and it seemed almost like it was part of the service and you were expected to stay. The church spans several generations and is well represented by every age group, there did not seem to be any majority age group or even a bimodal age grouping (like many churches will have). I wish more churches could be such a fundamental part of the community as it really felt like Church was both a large social function for them that was also a communal worship of God. 

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

The most challenging part of the worship service was how the majority of the service was in Greek. Some parts were in English, but even when English was spoken, they would flip back and forth so quickly that it was nearly impossible for me to get my bearings. So instead of trying to understand the service, I opted to observe and join in the worship where I could. Similar to my church, they follow an predetermined order laid out in a weekly bulletin, except my church is more like 16 pages and Assumption's was over 50! The only music was chanting, which was fine, but that only made it harder for me to participate. The service is not oriented towards the community and the focus was largely upon the altar, which is a great way to reinforce the focus on God, but that only reinforced my feelings of disorientation. 

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

The Assumption Greek Orthodox Church's main verse is Romans 15:7,  "Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God" and they live it out. I stood out as I walked into the church and it was clear that I was visiting, a Greek man picked me out right away and introduced me to the church. He showed me around for a little bit and then had his (rather cute) daughter show me the rest of the church and sat by me during the service. His daughter tried to help answer my questions, but I did not want to bother her too much since she understood what was going on in the service. Then after the service, she introduced me to nearly a dozen people and every single one of them was warm and inviting. They all enthusiastically wished wished that I would come back, but understood that I already have a home church (although one of them did talk about converting..).