Church Visit #3- Lower Income

Mariel Beausejour - Church Visit #3

Church name: Lawndale Community Church

Church address: 3827 W. Ogden | Chicago, Illinois 60623
Date attended: November 1, 2014
Church Category: Lower Income

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

As we entered the health centered, I was hugged three times, and heard the beautiful and energetic praises coming from the central auditorium. I led my carful of people to seats on the opposite side of the auditorium, in which everyone was seated in a circle around a raised stage. We were singing songs that I recognized from visiting my home church’s black sister church, but the order of the service was very different. There were no dramas or miming with white gloves. The church service centered on the gospel and its contextualization to the poor of Lawndale.

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

My favorite part of the service was the prayer. There was a staff member/elder moderating, while people lined up at two microphones and shared with the church their praise reports and prayer requests. When people would start preaching, or going to long, the pianist would start to play, and they would usually get the hint to rap it up. The central man moderating then led us in corporate prayer, lifting each request up by name, which he had written down. It was a beautiful way to get to know the congregation and to see these people cry out to God on behalf of their neighbor, really knowing what they needed.

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

Once we sat down, I realized that we were surrounded by men in blue t-shirts, and I later realized we were in the Hope House section. The Hope House is a rehabilitation program for men coming out of prison, or trying to break addictions. While I did not feel uncomfortable being around these men, there was a culture in the church in which everyone understands that the Hope House sits in this area and sticks together. I like to think of myself as intuitive and somewhat culturally competent and aware of my surroundings, but in this moment not so much. This wasn’t such a big deal that anyone invited us to sit somewhere else, but as if sitting with 4 other white, stiff students wasn’t enough, it was a moment in which I stood out for not belonging. It was just a mini-moment of feeling disoriented in a new church culture.

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 don’t feel that I typically need God on a daily basis. Maybe for emotional support, or to let something go and have peace. We don’t weekly fast for our community to mourn violence and murder within it. It was amazing to see a community praise God vibrantly while also crying out to him for sustenance. I have never seen this kind of raw worship of and need for God in wealthy communities. This is why we need theological voices from minority or represented communities. My theology has been greatly shaped by my upper class status, and because of that, I miss out on seeing God as the Provider of all things, and as my Comforter in all circumstances. It is not that my church isn’t preaching the gospel, or experiencing God. It is simply that we cannot experience that if we do not leave our own context.