Beth Laskowski- Church visit #2

Blog Title: Beth Laskowski- Church visit #2

Church name: Calvary Gospel Chapel

Church address: Southampton, Bermuda

Date attended: March 9, 2014

Church category: lower socioeconomic demographic

 

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

Over spring break, my family and I went to Bermuda and we attended a Sunday worship service at Calvary Gospel Chapel.  This church visit was interesting and so I wanted to share about it on the blog. I was definitely 10 miles away from Wheaton. J The people who attend this church have a low socioeconomic status as most people in Bermuda are forced to work two or three jobs just to survive in a very expensive economy.  This was a very vibrant island church that has a strong focus on missions.  On the Sunday we were there, they were very excited because they had just been part of a large youth rally which attracted 400 youth from all over Bermuda.  Many had accepted Jesus and they were praising God for that.  This church seemed thankful for even little things like that no one looked malnourished in the church and they encouraged people to give even the little they had for the work of the Lord in thankfulness to how He has been with them through both tough and good times.

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

This church was fairly small, I would say there were about 50 people at the service. It was a racially diverse church but predominantly black.  The worship through singing was wonderful and even though we were in a small congregation, the songs were sung with heartfelt praise to God and we were loud!  I really liked the church’s outward focus and their heart to evangelize the people of Bermuda. The pastor of the church talked during the message about how he came to know God through the church that he is now pastoring.  His family was not Christian and he used to come in and sit at the back of the church.  At one point in the service he looked out at the congregation and said something like, “you remember when I did that, right?”  The church seemed to have a close knit community and during the message, the pastor talked about his wife and family as if everyone knew who they were. I think everyone really did know them. I liked their church community and how everyone seemed to love each other as they grew in faith together.

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

I think the saddest part of the worship service was talking to a woman after the service that has lived in Bermuda her whole life.  She says that Bermuda used to be a different place but now there are more gangs, violence and theft on the island. We did not see many churches in Bermuda and the ones that we did see were pretty small.  There is definitely a need for more churches like the one that we attended.  The service as a whole was biblically based and I did not really have any issues with the service.

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 think that the genuine worship and close community were two things that I really admire in this church.  The people were welcoming to each other and to us and after the service, someone in the congregation offered to give us a ride back to our hotel.  I had never heard a clear argument on what the position of women in the church is but I admired the way the pastor approached a very difficult passage from 1 Timothy 2:9-15.  He sought to discover what the Bible was saying on this matter by looking at the historical context of women in the church and the conflicts that Paul was addressing within the early church.  He was engaging to listen to and he did not pander to people’s views on this matter but simply preached what he felt the Bible was saying.  This church seemed to be a church grounded in the gospel.