Christian Kim - Church visit 3

Blog title: Christian Kim - Church visit 3

Church name: Bethel Lutheran Church

Church address: 4211 W West End Ave, Chicago, IL 60624

Date attended: 11.2.14

Church category: Lutheran

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

It was very different from any of my normal contexts. It was the first church I've been to where most of the congregation was African-American (only a couple of non-blacks). The church was also located in a poorer neighborhood. The whole service was really fun and different. A lot of singing, moving and friendliness. People never stopped giving us hymnals or showing us pages or coming up to us. Literally everyone in the church walked up to us to greet us during the exchange of peace time and they even sang a welcome song for us. The music was rich gospel music and I got lost in it, it was of course longer than the services I'm accustomed to but I barely noticed. 

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

I loved the simplicity of the worship. I get so lost in the hell of my mind as a student that going to this church where joyful praise and a simple forceful message was communicated was really refreshing. The worship through music demanded honesty and I found myself freeing my mental guards to just pour out my spirit. The congregation was very small - no more than 30 people. However, this produced warmth and intimacy. I didn't feel like a stranger at all. I attended a bible study there before the service that was very refreshing to me. What convicted me about the study was the simplicity of the message and the complete faith of those discussing. I felt the gospel in their actions and their commitment. 

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

Despite the foreign context I had trouble finding myself disoriented. I was very on edge getting to the church since we were going through poorer neighborhoods and I wasn't even sure about whether the church was running since they had no website. However, once I got in there the people and setting was so warm that I had no defenses up and no awareness of being disoriented or un-connected to the spirit. I honestly have no criticism of the church that I am aware of, I was very open to the message of the service and the spirit in that place.

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 sermon was talking about serving God "now now". There where scripture readings throughout the service, however, I forget how they were used explicitly in the sermon. What stuck out to me about the sermon was the call to not delay serving God at all. When we are called God's children it means we are His children now, now. It was a call to not procrastinate service to God. This was powerful for me to hear. I hear this all the time in different forms but I've always been filtering it through the hardness of my heart. The warmth of the church softened me to receive this immediacy of our calling just by the affirmation of the congregation (everyone was responding with "mm-hmms" and "Amen!'s").