Sarah Baek - Church Visit #3

Church Name: Lawndale Community church

Church Address: 3827 W. Ogden Ave.

Date Attended: 4/6/14

Church Category: Low Socioeconomic Status

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

The service took place in a large gymnasium, which is different than the church context I grew up in, which was usually a smaller office space converted into a church. There was a stage was set up in the center of the gym, and all the folding chairs were facing inward towards the stage. There were two pull-down screens at opposite corners of the room for bulletins, messages, lyrics, etc. I noticed a lot of families, particularly with younger children. I arrived to the service about 20 minutes early, and was greeted by three different congregation members while I sat waiting. The service began with two worship songs, and I thought it was cool and perhaps very intentional about the diverse selection of singers (a black man, a black woman, a white woman, and a South Asian woman). There was a portion of time devoted to prayer requests by the congregation members, then finally the sermon and communion.

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

I really appreciated the portion of time for prayer requests. I think growing up seeing a concern for propriety and image management in a lot of Korean American churches, it was good to hear congregants share parts of their lives with one another, especially the messier parts. I also appreciated that these requests were shared with strangers in the congregation. I admired that ability to trust such a large group of people, strangers included. I loved that I was greeted. That’s always nice.

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

I don’t usually love the center stage set up. I understand that it helps the congregants to see one another, which helps develop a sense of community. However, in the few times I’ve been at churches that set up rings of chairs, I feel less continuity or solidarity with the congregation. The other things I found strange with the service was the offering song. The choir sang a song that I loved musically, however the lyrics repeated the line “What if God took away his love?” I think the general gist of the song was to call us into holiness and to take seriously internal and external changes for the glory of God. I get the call to holiness, but the hypothetical situation where God chooses not to love people sounds pretty problematic to me. If anything, that sounds like a threat. If one does not live in a way that is pleasing to God, God will discontinue His love for him or her.

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 think that the service highlighted the importance of the congregation, and how the congregation can teach one another about God. During the prayer request portion of the service, two women shared prayers of thanks with regards to their experiences with traffic collisions. One woman came out of her accident free of harm, while the other had to go through a painful process of injury and recovery. However, both taught and reminded us of equally significant lessons with regards to God’s sovereignty. Regardless of what happens in situations of pain, God is sovereign. I just loved that these were lessons coming from the congregation to the congregation, as opposed as solely from the pulpit.