Kurt Andres - Church Visit #3

Church name: St. Michaels

Church address: 314 W Willow Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: 4/02/2014

Church category: More Liturgical

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

I attended a Catholic mass that was very different from my usual worship service. The service consisted entirely of singing from the hymnal, scripture reading also from the hymnal, and Eucharist. I had never previously been to such a liturgical service and realized how strikingly different mass is from a contemporary Christian worship service. There was no preaching or teaching, there was no fellowship or infomercials like at my church, and definitely no corny pastor jokes. This service meant business and was very traditional. The church body observed Eucharist which was also very interesting to watch and much different than my church where Ritz crackers are handed out with the grape juice. The entire service including Eucharist also only mentioned three Bible verses, which I found unusual for such a liturgical service.

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

I was intrigued by this service in general for how perfectly mapped out and planned the entire service was. The priest and others involved in this service knew exactly where they needed to be at what time and what things they needed to be holding etc. This was by far the most mapped out, liturgical, and formal service I have ever been to. I really enjoyed seeing the service though I would not necessarily say this was an engaging worship service. I believe the church would agree with me on this one. The primary point everyone was here for was the observation of Eucharist which was very quick, and very formal and obviously I did not participate in this. The other interesting part of this service is that there was no teaching, or biblical message in this service. This was my first church experience where there was not a specific passage or teaching.

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

I honestly found this whole service pretty stressful. I went with a good friend who essentially walked me through the whole thing but there were so many rules! I had to kneel, stand, read, recite, kneel again and repeat. The whole service was this way and I was amazed by the physical fitness required to attend mass. I was also intrigued by the reception of Eucharist in which little metal plates were used to ensure the bread did not fall and hit the ground because Catholics believe it becomes the actual body of Christ. This was way different than the communion I observed at my regular church today where crackers and grape juice were passed around in the offering baskets. I also found it intriguing how well the congregation knew the routine and knew everything they were supposed to recite, repeat back, and even the very pattern for approaching the alter to receive Eucharist was mapped out. 

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

This question is interesting because no scripture was relied on for the service. I did however walk away from the service very curious about the value of liturgical practices. I am intrigued as well by the idea of the bread becoming the actual body of Christ and would love to see more scripture that leads to this assumption. I also felt convicted that I need to approach God with more respect and fervor. Seeing the catholic body kneel before God continually and observe mass so religiously I realized that I often trivialize the fact that I approach God every time I dive into prayer. I need to never stop fearing God and respecting Him. I also felt challenged to memorize more scripture and songs. I think this is a great thing to turn on in dark times and this catholic body of believers definitely had scripture in their minds and hearts to draw on.