Christina Rohrer- Church visit #3

Church name: Lawndale Christian Community Church
Church address: 3827 W. Ogden  Chicago, Illinois 60623
Date attended: 3/30/2014
Church category: Lower socioeconomic status

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
Lawndale Christian Community church was very different from my church in Wheaton in many ways. First of all, the service was held in a gymnasium that had a tarp laid down over the floor to protect the wood. The chairs were set up in a big square, and there was a elevated platform in the center where the worship team sang and the pastor preached from. All of the churches that I had been to before were set up in a way that the people would all face the front, but here, we were in a big circle of fellowship. Across from me was the section where the men in the Hope House program (a program to help rehabilitate them from drugs) were sitting, and the community was predominately African American. There was a choir and a praise team, and they were very enthusiastic about their worship, singing the songs over and over with great joy. The pastor was very enthusiastic and preached for a while before actually getting to what he had planned to speak on. That was very different from First Baptist, the church I normally attend, where everything is very structured, goes according to plan, and ends on time.

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

 I loved the fact that the people were so full of joy and happiness despite the fact that they were most likely not in a very stable place financially. They sang with huge smiles of thankfulness and adoration on their faces, and warmly welcomed us into their congregation. They were so genuine and down to earth, and that was very heartwarming. I also enjoyed the special worship where one of the men got up and sang a beautiful song. I don't know if that is a normal occurrence at this church, but it it really helped me to be able to enter into the spirit of worship. 

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

I found it a little hard to track the sermon. The pastor was funny and entertaining, but he spoke for half of the time about different topics, and when I thought that he was getting ready to wrap up, he announced that he was going to get into his real message. I have experienced this kind of service before in traveling with the Gospel Choir, but it still kind of throws me off when pastors do that, because I have an expectation that the message will be laid out and followed directly, so when it isn't I have a hard time linking the topics and making sense of it all. 

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 thought that the fact that we were able to get a tour and hear about the history of the church before the service was really beneficial to my experience. Going into the service with the background knowledge of how the church came to be and the impact that is has had on the community made God's love and care seem that much more amazing as I reflected on His mercy and provision and grace in bringing the church to the place where it is today. I was struck by how God's plans are so much bigger than our plans, and if we follow His voice and step out in faith, He can do amazing things through us. This church has made such an enormous difference in the lives of so many men and their families, and I was able to witness that as I watched the men in drug rehab singing and praising God from the bottom of their hearts. This service increased my desire to be open to being used by God in any way that he would use me, even if it seems impossible to me at first.