Church Name: Lawndale Community Church
Church Address: 3860 W Ogden Ave Chicago, IL 60623
Date Attended: 3/30/14
Church Category: Socioeconomic
The church service I attended here was quite different than the services that I am used to at my home church. First of all, all of the chairs were surrounding and focused towards the center where the lead singers and pastor stood, unlike most churches where the pews are all facing directly forward. The second difference was that the worship band was in the back behind the seats so that half of the church couldn't even see them unless they turned around and the other half had a hard time seeing them anyway. The third difference was the obvious difference of race, changing from all white to all different races. The difference that I enjoyed the most was how much everybody got into the worship. Most people in my church just sing the lyrics and don't seem to be very excited, though I cannot say what they are actually thinking. Also, this church was very welcoming and outgoing towards everyone. Though my home church doesn't completely ignore new people, there were a lot of people who came up to us and asked us how we were and what we were doing and were quite amiable.
One thing that I found most appealing about this service was, first of all, how welcoming everybody was, but also how much everybody got into the worship. At my home church there is a lot of people who just sit there and “sing” the lyrics without looking like they cared that much, though I don't actually know their hearts, I can only say what I see. However, here the choir got so much into the music and the people around were clapping and singing loudly and looking like they were truly into the worship of Christ (though once again I don't know their hearts). Also, I like how much more normal everybody seemed. Compared to the church I went to of a different race which was here in Wheaton, people acted more normal and did not seem to care about acting like everything was going well, although many of them seem legitimately happy simply to be there. Overall, Lawndale was a much more inviting and loving atmosphere than my home church.
The layout of the church was disorienting for me because I was not used to having a circle of chairs and it also simply felt odd to have the pastor's back facing me because I had gotten so used to having the pastor in the front of the sanctuary. Honestly, the most disorienting part was the slideshow during the pastor's sermon, which had many different colors in it and was distracting for me during the sermon. However, that is a minor point. The church was quite different from my home church, however, the most of the parts that were different were not distracting but actually drew me into it, such as the welcoming air and people truly appearing to be in worship of God. So other than the layout of the church, most of it wasn't particularly distracting.
One part of Scripture that I was able to perceive much more clearly was the unity of the church and how the church is for all people and equal for all people. There were just so many people there with so many different backgrounds and so many different problems and blessings, yet all of them were there for one purpose, to worship God. Another aspect of Scripture that was very clear was the church going and helping the community and giving to the poor and underprivileged. There was a huge emphasis on doing things in the community and all the different initiatives that were happening around them. And, even though they didn't even take an offering because they didn't want those with less money to feel less important or anything, there was a push to give to others even if it wasn't money but time and care.
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