James Tarka - Church Visit #3

Church name: Church of the Resurrection

Church address: 935 W. Union Ave. Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: 4/6/2014

Church category: Significantly more liturgical

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

As with almost every type of church that I have visited, the worship service began with a session of worship songs. There was a choir, several lead vocals, and guitars that played in a music style that characterizes most of what I have experienced in white, suburban churches. Contrary to what I have become accustomed to, the sermon occurred near the beginning of the service as opposed to near its conclusion. The sermon focused much more on theological insight than personal application, contrasting my previous two church visits. Near the sermon, there was a specific time for personal confession, which is absent in my own church context. The time of communion extended nearly twenty minutes and included time for personal reflection or prayer with church elders if desired. The church membership did not appear particularly diverse, and for the most part I felt that I was worshipping among racial and socioeconomic peers.
 

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

Communion at this church is completely different from any experience that I have had at other churches. Here, the community aspect of communion is truly emphasized. Throughout this time, I witnessed numerous conversations between church members and elders as they prayed and sometimes cried over each other. In my own church, I feel that communion can often just be reduced to something that we are supposed to do in order to fit into communion with somebody other. While communion with fellow believers is important, it is perhaps equally important to recall the social context of the first breaking of bread and remember the significance of discussions that can be had at this time. I love the intentionality of communion at this church and think it presents a fine example for what one aspect of Christian community ought to look like.

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

If you were to happen to miss a week of worship at this church, you could have a friend mail you the bulletin. You would then have maybe all but ten of the words that were said throughout the service. Coming from a very non-liturgical background, I can understand the cynical view that a liturgical church service can look more like a scripted play with actors than a legitimate form of glorifying God. I don’t want to suggest that this is actually my view of liturgical practices, and I recognize that there are probably significant benefits to using them. Personally, however, it just seemed that I was proclaiming the sentiments of someone else, if even I agreed with the basic ideas or purposes behind each section of the wording. I hope that my future encounters with those more familiar with liturgical practices can gracefully explain to me what they find personally (or perhaps corporately) appealing about liturgical approaches to glorifying God.

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 liturgical aspects of the service and the manner in which communion was taken (see above) really emphasized the communal aspects of Scripture in a way that I wish my own church context would adopt (although I haven’t decided on the liturgical aspect yet). Although life with other Christians can sometimes be more difficult than life with non-Christians, a hermeneutic that reads the Bible in absence of community is impossible to locate. This church showed me that there is a difference between breaking bread at the same time and breaking bread together, praying genuinely with and over each other. There was a definite sense in which no one was left out. Yet at the same time, there was also a place for personal reflection and repentance in the context of that community. It is amazing to see how God has worked in allowing his creation to work together in glorifying Him.