Church name: Rock of Our Salvation Church
Church address: 118 North Central Ave, Chicago
Date attended: September 21, 2014
Church category: Lower socioeconomic demographic & at least ten miles out of Wheaton.
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
Getting to the service at Rock Church was an experience in itself. My friend and I felt out of place as soon as we stepped off the L into the Austin neighborhood. Walking to the church through the somewhat run down area, streets neglected with trash about, it felt wrong to be all dressed up for a Sunday service. We were thankful when an older lady approached us at a stop light, recognizing that we were going to her church, and offered to show us the way and walk with us. She called attention right away to the nature of the area and told us that all the poverty was tied to "blockbusting" that took place in the 60's/70's. Feeling out of place was brushed away as we entered the church and were warmly welcomed.
We learned that the church was dedicated to Racial Reconciliation and as such there was integration of white Evangelical worship songs, black praise choir songs, and a great amount of dancing. The congregation was about ¾ black, and ¼ white, and the leadership was also varied. The building we worshiped in seemed to be an old gym and very different from my normal context of a finished sanctuary with pews. From what I gathered in conversation, Rock Church is very involved in the community by offering schooling and after school programs in the Austin neighborhood. They open their doors each day to serve so many different people, something that my current home church could learn a lot from.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I found the longer time of worship in song and dance so appealing and welcoming. We were led along with most everyone else around the gym in dance while the band played on and on. This time of praise music never truly stopped either. When Pastor Rob Stevenson began his sermon, the band didn’t get a rest but he would ask them to play a certain song again that tied into what he was saying. We would all stand again and carry on singing until the pastor started again, but the congregation never stayed silent, always pushing him along with energetic responses to his preaching.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
I was thrown off at first with how engaged the congregation was in Pastor Rob’s sermon, and with other people who shared. Each word of truth or praise that was given on stage was echoed, or answered with “well’s, amen’s, and hallelujah’s.” These responses slowly pulled me into the service in a meaningful way. Seeing how such a multiracial group had embraced different aspects of each other's worship styles was so encouraging, a great picture of unity.
I also didn’t remember that the white, Wheaton, upper/middle class time frame was not at work here at Rock Church, and this service went long. I admit that there were times in the first two hours when I was wondering when it would be over...but by the end of three and a half hours I had forgotten time and was fully worshiping with my brothers and sisters (their welcoming nature made it hard not to feel the unity we shared).
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 felt so blessed to be with the people of Rock Church and to see through their eyes how the church and the Kingdom can transcend this world’s order. To bridge what the world has separated. Pastor Rob said in the message that Rock Church does not just talk about the kingdom or a Christian life, but they live it daily together. Hearing the things that they named that morning showed me that they are actively working to engage their world as the hands of Christ. They prayed for hardships in the community, praised our God for the change they have seen, and called their church to continue to obey God. In their context I clearly felt a call to trust and obey our God. 
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