David Holmes - Church Visit #3

Church name: Lawndale Christian Community Church

Church address: 3827 W. Ogden Avenue Chicago, IL 60623

Date attended: April 6, 2014

Church category: Lower socioeconomic demographic; >10 miles away from Wheaton College

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

Lawndale Christian Community Church (LCCC) bears both similarities and striking differences to my regular church context (a contemporary, non-denominational church called Autumn Ridge Church). Like Autumn Ridge, the dress, conduct, and atmosphere of the service were quite casual. No one was wearing suits, ties, or dresses. There were no pews, but rather folding chairs arranged around a central, raised platform upon which the leaders of the service spoke. The setting of the Church, however, is very unique. Rather than being located in its own isolated church building, LCCC is integrated into one of Lawndale’s community health centers, with the service itself occurring in a multipurpose gymnasium. About half way through the service, there was a time designated for the church members to present their prayer requests to God. I found this to be a unique way for a congregation to pray as the requests were publically announced in an assembly line fashion. I also noticed that there was no formal time for an offertory during the service. Instead, there was a box at the back of the sanctuary for people to deposit donations if they felt called.

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

What I found to be most appealing is LCCC’s utter commitment to meeting the physical, spiritual, economic, and social needs of the community of Lawndale. During my visit, I learned that many aspects of their worship services are geared toward accommodating the economic circumstances of the congregation. For example, the church endorses casual dress and private offertory specifically due to the low income of the majority of church members. Many simply do not have the funds to buy formal dress clothes or participate in a weekly offering. As I was walking through Lawndale, I learned that this orientation toward serving the community permeates the entire neighborhood. LCCC has a medical center, fitness center, and legal center that have been an enormous blessing to the community. LCCC has also partnered with organizations such as Hope House and Lou Malnatis (a restaurant) to aid previously incarcerated men regain their function as helpful members of society and provide employment for an economically suffering community. In all, I found the work of LCCC to be a true reflection of the love and servanthood of Christ.

 

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

 I found the worship to be the most challenging aspect of the service. Despite the relatively long service (~1.5 hours), there were only two songs that the congregation sang together and only one song sung by the gospel choir. I would have appreciated a greater amount of time designated for worship. I also found the worship to be challenging in a strictly musical sense because the songs were accompanied only by a drum set. Having no praise band or piano made it more difficult for the congregation to sing a coherent and unified melody. Furthermore, the songs chosen were very mellow and not particularly conducive to joyful worship. In fact, I found the most joyful worship to be in the form of enthusiastic verbal affirmations of the preacher’s words during the sermon rather than the singing.

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

LCCC clearly demonstrated to me what it means for a church to operate as the body of Christ, spreading love and grace to those who are in severe physical, spiritual, economic, and social need. I had never before witnessed a church that was so deeply integrated into a community and that so proactively worked towards addressing issues that are immediately before them. I have observed that churches like Autumn Ridge often advertise and endorse bold global initiatives, yet just as frequently neglect the urgent needs of their own community. Although global initiatives can hugely benefit foreign communities, it can become easy to forget that “loving your neighbor” can also mean serving those who live physically in your midst.  Through their legal centers, medical facilities, fitness centers, partnership with Hope House, and other ministries, LCCC has profoundly benefited the community of Lawndale. I look to this church as an inspiration and a model for how a Church can act in a unified and loving way that truly reflects the servanthood of Christ.